Suburban Propane Hit with Class Action Over ‘Extraordinarily High’ Propane Bills

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A proposed class action lawsuit claims that Suburban Propane, L.P. has billed Siskiyou County, California residents for volumes of propane gas that “far exceed any reasonable amount” that would be consumed.

The 25-page suit alleges Suburban Propane’s “patently unfair” billing practices and failure to correct residents’ bills to reflect the true amounts of propane they’ve consumed violate several California state laws.

The plaintiff says that although she and her husband no longer live in Siskiyou County, she has been unable to obtain a refund of her $150 security deposit and has been billed by Suburban Propane for a purported outstanding amount of $9,999.99 with no supporting documentation. Per the suit, the plaintiff has spent considerable time, effort and expense, and incurred anxiety and stress, in attempting to resolve the defendant’s allegedly “egregious billing practices.”

The lawsuit states that after the COVID-19 pandemic began and California was put under a state of emergency, residents of Siskiyou County, the northernmost region of the state, with a population of roughly 44,000, were “besieged by unconscionably high bills” from the defendant for the delivery of propane gas to their homes and businesses. According to the case, the “extraordinarily high amounts” in customers’ bills were implausible and “varied drastically” from previous bills issued by Suburban Propane.

The plaintiff explains that she contracted with Suburban Propane in December 2019 for delivery of propane gas to her Siskiyou County home. Per the suit, the plaintiff agreed to pay for the propane on a per-gallon basis, and the amount would be based on a meter read at her residence.

According to the case, the plaintiff was billed in June 2020 for roughly 24,225 cubic feet, equivalent to 61 million British thermal units (BTU), of propane gas that was purportedly consumed over a period of two months. The lawsuit relays that according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the average annual propane gas consumption for households in the western U.S. was 27 million BTU in 2015. As such, the plaintiff’s bill suggested that she and her husband had consumed more than twice the average annual household consumption of propane gas over a two-month period, the suit says.

According to the complaint, the defendant’s bills “strain credulity” as it is “virtually impossible” for residents to use up the amounts of propane gas listed on their billing statements.

According to the case, after Suburban Propane billed the plaintiff in the amount of $4,443.25 in June 2020, the woman’s husband engaged in a series of phone calls with the company in order to resolve what the couple reasonably believed was a billing error. Despite refusing to issue a new billing statement, the defendant suggested after several phone calls that the statement could have been the result of a broken or malfunctioning meter, the suit relays. Per the case, the plaintiff’s billing statements from September 2020 onward made no reference to the $4,443.25 amount, and the plaintiff thus believed the issue had been resolved.

Nevertheless, the case says, Suburban Propane “doubled down on its unlawful billing practices” in May 2021 by issuing the plaintiff a billing statement in the amount of $7,186.25 based on her purported consumption of 37,203 cubic feet of propane gas over a two-month period.

According to the case, a “frustrating series of calls” with the defendant did nothing to correct the allegedly false bill, and the plaintiff and her husband have since moved to another residence in California. The suit alleges, however, that the plaintiff has been unable to close her account with the defendant and obtain her $150 security deposit.

Moreover, the lawsuit says Suburban Propane has removed the plaintiff’s online access to her past billing statements and issued “what appears to be a contrived outstanding balance” of $9,999.99 that the case claims is unsupported by any documentation.

Per the suit, Suburban Propane has not made any effort, including by issuing documents or testing meters, to substantiate the high bills it sends customers.

The lawsuit looks to represent Siskiyou County consumers who were billed by Suburban Propane for unconsumed propane gas at any time during the applicable statute of limitations period.

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