Have you locked in your oil price this year?

I just got my lock in price of $4.79/gal for this year. With the recent 30% decline in oil prices I'm curious if people who normally lock in and have a budget plan are choosing to not lock in for the year?

just got my lock in today at 4.30 but i refuse to lock,pellets will burn alot this year

i locked in at 5 a month ago.i will pay market if lower when delivered and never over 5.

Oil is less than $3.50 a gallon at discount energy here in Maine.

thats great news!

Current price north of border is just above $5.00 for a US gallon, think were getting hosed up here.

Just got my Aero Energy (York County PA) price protection plan letter in the mail yesterday.

Price Protection Plan
Customer requirements:

• Must be on Automatic Delivery
• Credit Approved Customer In Good Standing
•Propane "price cap" sign-up fee - $79.00 with a cap at $3.79 per gallon
•Heating Oil "price cap" sign-up fee - $185.00 with a cap at $5.079 per gallon

"We at Aero are painfully aware that these prices represent a substantial increase from prior years cap prices and sign up fees. It is just an unfortunate fact of life in today’s world, where skyrocketing petroleum prices have dramatically increased the cost of price caps. Please understand that sign up fees are being offered to you at our cost, and that Aero is making no profit on fees associated with these programs."

-Tom Washburn C.E.O.

Each residential customer on the Price Protection Program must be in good standing, on Automatic Delivery, and be Credit Approved for the primary residential heat source for the duration of the program.

The application fee covers a portion of the total cost incurred by Aero to cap the price on your total purchases of heating oil or propane. This application fee is non-refundable once an applicant has been accepted into the Price Protection Plan.

Program features:

• Established Price Cap for Heating Oil (if primary heat product)
• Established Price Cap for Propane (if primary heat product)
• No Price Floor
• Deliveries Made Between October 1 to May 1.
Under the PPP, your cost per gallon of heating product will never exceed the established price ceiling. In other words, any time our normal posted market price exceeds your protected price, you will be invoiced at the price ceiling, no higher. Discounts - if any are earned - are applicable only when the posted price is less than the PPP price. This program will expire May 1. All subsequent deliveries will be billed at our posted market price, less any applicable discounts

Time to start looking for another oil distributor....

Interesting. Our plan down here is a fixed price not a cap. Therefore if we lock in at $4.79, that will be the price even if the market price goes down. Since this is my first season with a pellet stove, I'm leaning towards foregoing the fixed price and taking my chances with the market. I can always burn more pellets (if I can find them). I already told my oil guy to reduce my planned usage to half.

I just received an application for a lock in price of $4.54 from my oil dealer. I tore it up.
I`ll pay the cash price to the lowest seller at the time I need it. I don`t normally mind paying for my fuel up front but $3-4K is not a reasonably amount to ask of anyone up front IMO, so I`ll take my chances.

Our lock in price is $5.30. Current oil price is 4.69. This include a service call in September. I can't believe oil is a dollar cheaper in other places.

I told my oil guy to tell his supplier to go screw, I'm converting over to NG. If the price on NG goes up much, I'll just burn pellets, wood, and/or coal.

FWIW, I wouldn't recommend anyone prepaying above $4.00 per gal... I suspect we'll see oil going for around $3.25 to $3.75 this winter.

greeby, I didn't know there were oil companies out there that charged a "price cap" sign-up fee. At least the companies I've used here never have. They locked you in at $5.079 per gallon, but charged you this sign-up fee of $185.00 to help offset any additional costs they may inccur during the season? That means that if you use 1,000 gallons of fuel at the price cap of $5.079 , then you are actually paying $5.264 per gallon. If you only use 500 gallons of oil, then you are actually paying $5.449 per gallon. What if the daily price of oil never reaches your "cap" price of $5.079 per gallon, and therefore your oil company has not incurred any additional costs? Are they going to refund you the $185.00?

In our area, most oil companies give you 3 options:

1. You pay whatever the daily market rate is the day of your delivery.
2. You pay one flat rate for each gallon for the entire year no matter what the daily market price of oil is.
3. You "lock-in" at a cap price. You'll never pay more than that price, but you will pay less if the daily market rate is lower the day of your delivery.

We are currently locked in at $3.229 since last October, but it will change when our contract runs out this coming October when they'll offer us a new lock-in price.

Steve

Could you call my dealer? He's still over $4. Perhaps he hasn't heard the news. Although I will admit the discount, COD guy is down to $3.99 over in Bloomfield.

I believe that in CT, the dealers have to have actually purchased 75% of their committed oil before the season starts so they are also locking in a price in a way as well.

Here we have three options also.
1) Pre-buy for a set price which is typically lower than the fixed price. You need to pay all up front in this case.
2) Get on a budget plan and pay a fixed price/gallon all year. You pay 10 equal monthly payments. This years price was $4.79.
3) Pay the market price when the oil is delivered. There is no floor or cap in this case. There is also no budget. Payment in full is due soon aafter delivery.

Sign-up fee? What the hell is that? Sounds like a scam.....but what can you do? Heat with pellets, thats what.

I got a quote from Shipley Energy (Aero's main competetor) today. They're offering a cap at $4.19/gal with a $240 fee ($20.00/month). The .89/gal I would save would pay for the cap _

Life shouldn't be this hard

Greeby darn u have to be a lawyer to buy oil . Just like New Jersey . You have to be a Lawyer to buy Gas House, Car , Insurence , Taxes Natural Gas , Wood no wood I scroung lol

We didn't lock in last year & are not locking in again this year. I use 2 different dealers (I like the idea of having a choice & having accounts at more than one year in case there's ever a supply issue) & just monitor the fuel gauge and the prices. We've got 4 tons of pellets stacked for this year, so I expect our oil usage will be way down.

We did not lock in this year but are maintaining our service contract with our old dealer. We will be doing cash and carry as paying for insurance to get prices if they go lower, which they are, seems a bit silly.

Well, I received my oil company's price "lock-in" letter in the mail on Aug 16, and had to give them an answer by Aug. 18. ( Think they could have given me any less time to think about it?????)

And on top of that, read what part of the letter said: "As you might expect, the premium our suppliers charge us for offering this type of "insurance" has unfortunately (yeah....for me) increased thirteen-fold in the past few years as fuel prices have become more volatile. Consequently, we are forced to charge you a fee of $360 for oil........."

Wow, that made me feel so much better I could have had the pleasure of locking in at $4.75/gal, AND pay the fee on top of that

It was interesting that somehow, the letter ended-up in the recycling box.......

Anyone else have a horror story like that?

Oil. I haven't bought any since Jed Clampert stoped selling "black gold". I wish I could put pellets or wood in the tank of my car.

My oil company is gonna top off my tank at the $3.05 that my contract states thru the end of Sept. Local companies are delivering at around $3.75. I'll decide at the end of Sept. I doubt that I will but higher than $3.50 this year, but at that it'll be one more tank. Don't believe the hype!

That's insane!

Haffners oil,which is a discount supplier,had something similar to the fee on their website. They are always cheaper,but cash and carry. My oil company I use still offers a contract which includes a "free" cleaning and most parts and all labor for 185 which isnt bad I think.Oil is usually 10 cents higher,but I think my p68 is going to cut that 800 gal average down to say 2-300 for our first full pellet season.My company was locking at 4.60 which is insane. In 1997 oil was 99 cents

WTF