Saving Community Members Money Since 2005
The Propane Collective is a community-oriented buying service that uses collective bargaining power to save Members money on their propane service. We pride ourselves on providing transparent, discounted pricing and consistently excellent service to our Members.
Our Story
From Co-op to Collective
The Collective's roots go back to 2005. Frustrated by unpredictable pricing and “bait-and-switch" business models, I negotiated a volume rate for propane fora small group of local community members. The Coloma-Lotus Co-op was born.
We were a "co-op" in name only: I served as the group's sole volunteer and remained so for the entirety of the Co-op's 19 years. During that time, membership grew from 60 members to several hundred; our supplier for much of that time was AmeriGas.
In recent years, internal changes at AmeriGas created issues for customers nationwide. Billing errors and service issues were rampant. Customer service became non-existent. My volunteer side project managing the Co-op turned into a near full-time job as I worked to resolve the service crisis and audit billing issues.
Clearly, our group needed a new provider. After an exhaustive search, an ideal partner was found: Interstate Propane. InterState offered the best combination of price, service and transparency while also employing a partner-based approach.
Realizing I could no longer continue to run the Co-op as a volunteer, at this time I also formed a membership-based program, The Propane Collective. This program allows me to continue offering this valuable service and huge savings to my immediate community, while also extending the savings opportunity to neighboring community members.
Oversight & Advocacy: $100k in refunds!
Over time, I've become a tenacious advocate for consumer rights and ethical, fair treatment. Upon identifying a pattern of questionable billing practices at AmeriGas, I lobbied the company's executives to conduct an audit of Co-op Members’ billings. Not only was an audit unheard of for a community buying group like ours, I was able to get AmeriGas management to "audit the audit."
The results were astounding, even to AmeriGas: Co-op members received some $100,000 in refunds for propane ‘mis-billings’ over a ~3 year period! My work on this project continues into 2024; I will continue to hold AmeriGas accountable for its misdeeds.