BOSTON (WHDH) - Many Massachusetts families use propane to heat their homes, but there were delivery issues this winter.
“We have three furnaces, heat flooring, all of our hot water heaters, our appliances, literally the entire house,” explained Billerica resident Michele Aquaro.
Propane powers just about everything in her home, but she’s never had to worry about it. Deliveries from Superior Plus Propane kept her Billerica home running smoothly — until this winter.
“When we got below 15 percent, I was like, ‘oh, we’re actually going to run out. We’re going to run out of propane,’” Aquaro remembered.
The lower the meter dropped, the more worried Aquaro got. She said she called and emailed Superior Plus every day, but then her propane ran out.
“It’s awful,” Aquaro said. “All of us work except two people out in the cold, so what’s worse than working out in the cold all day and then coming home to a cold house?”
Aquaro says she was only without heat for a few hours. Superior Plus delivered propane the same day. Then, a month later, it happened again.
“You’re my supplier, like electricity, like other utilities, right? That would be the expectation that you are not hunting down a company to come,” Aquaro said.
James Hutchison felt the same frustration.
“They kept delaying the delivery, delaying the delivery, delaying the delivery,” Hutchison said.
He became concerned about repeated delivery delays at his Lakeville home.
Hutchison said in December that he ordered more propane and it took a week longer than usual to arrive.
In February, he said his order took two weeks longer than usual to be delivered.
Hutchison never ran out of propane, but said he got dangerously close.
“That was the one thing that was very stressful, simply because with the storm that had come through, if the generator would have had to come on, it would have pumped down 20 percent in two or three days, and we would have run out,” he said.
Hutchison and Aquaro aren’t alone.
The Massachusetts Attorney General’s office received more than 90 delivery complaints from Superior Plus customers since October.
The office also received a dozen complaints about AmeriGas, another major propane provider in the state.
The Attorney General took action and sent a letter to both propane companies.
The letter described the delivery delays as “dangerous” and “unacceptable,” and asked that the companies “immediately examine and remedy the problems.”
7 Investigates reached out to AmeriGas, who told us it had “responded to the request, addressing the concerns accordingly.”
A spokesperson for Superior Plus told 7 Investigates, “We sincerely regret the frustration some customers experienced this season.”
The Superior Plus spokesperson blamed weather and transportation issues, stating that the company had implemented emergency measures to help meet demand.
“It’s just really frustrating,” Aquaro said.
What made this even more frustrating for Hutchison and Aquaro is that they couldn’t have a different propane company help them.
In Massachusetts, one propane company cannot fill another company’s tank.
That means concerned or unhappy customers can’t just call another provider to bring them propane when they are in danger of running out.
“I do understand that nobody wants to fill a tank they are not connected to, fair enough, but what can we do differently so something like this doesn’t happen?” Aquaro asked.
Massachusetts State Representative Leigh Davis wants to deliver change.
“It was an emergency, just, the volume of calls we got,” Davis said.
After her office received multiple complaints from Superior Plus customers, Davis is working on a bill that would allow propane companies to fill each other’s tanks during emergencies.
“We need to recognize that it is a loophole that needs to be filled and addressed,” Davis said. “We want to make sure this doesn’t happen again, and we want to make sure that whatever company it is – whether it is AmeriGas or Superior – that they are held accountable.”
Hutchison and Aquaro want the law to change, but they aren’t waiting.
They each said they will take the expensive step of buying their existing tank from Superior Plus or digging up their current tank and installing a new one.
“I’m never dealing with that again. I hate to be cold. I absolutely hate to be cold, so stressing out about being cold with no heat in the winter, no. No. This will never happen again,” Aquaro said.
The Attorney General’s office said their review of Superior Plus and AmeriGas is ongoing.
If you have a complaint about your propane provider, you can alert the Attorney General’s office at: https://www.mass.gov/how-to/file-a-consumer-complaint
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