Woman faces financial dilemma due to propane cost increase

PRAGUE, Okla. (KFOR) — One woman in Prague is doing everything she can to stay warm as frigid temperatures head our way, but having to shell out more than an extra $100 for propane is putting her in a tough bind.

Mary Lou Foster was shocked to see an extra $0.50 per gallon for her propane delivery. At 75 years old, that extra cost is putting a big strain on her budget.

“I was in shock,” said Foster, an OLG Propane customer. “I really was just like, that’s $100 I could be spending somewhere else. That was hard. It was really hard for me.”

Below freezing temps will be hovering over Oklahoma for days. Heaters will be running non-stop and for people like Foster who use propane to heat their homes, it was time to stock up.

“I was expecting to pay maybe $360 for 450 gallons,” Foster said.

That’s around the price she paid to OLG Propane in Seminole on her last purchase in November, but this time around was a different story.

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“It’s hard on me because I’m just retirement and Social Security; I don’t make a lot of money, so it’s real hard on me,” Foster said.

Back in November, she was charged around $2.40 per gallon, but for this order she was charged $2.89, nearly $0.50 more per gallon.

“I asked her, you know, why, and she said, well, it’s because of the cold weather,” Foster said.

News 4 called OLG Propane to ask why the price per gallon has risen.

“The cost of product in the summer is sometimes half of what it is during the winter,” said Jim White, an OLG Propane Representative.

White says as temperatures drop, demand goes up, which raises their prices for propane.

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“The price of propane jumps enormously, like it’s gone up $0.10 a gallon in less than a week,” White said. “The trucking cost of getting the propane from the plants as far away as Kansas like Oklahoma around Tulsa, but the trucking costs are larger because everybody’s supply is really short.”

OLG Propane told us their prices are based on the market. However, according to the US Energy Information Administration, the state average sits at $2.23 as of Monday, far less than the $2.89 Mary Lou was charged.

News 4 checked with a few other propane companies in the metro, and each told us they were charging $2.19 per gallon.

“You’ve got food, you’ve got electric bill, my electric bill was high enough,” Foster said. “Then all the other bills come in, so something gets pushed to the side because you can’t pay it because you pay $100 more for your propane.”

News 4 reached out to the Attorney General’s Office to ask about the guidelines of price gouging and if this situation could be considered as such.

The AG’s Office gave us this response:

“Oklahoma’s price-gouging laws go into effect upon a federal or state declaration of emergency for affected counties. The price of goods/services sold in those counties may not increase by more than 10% above the price charged immediately before the declaration. There are certain exceptions for petroleum and natural gas products.”

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