Jerry Nyhoff covers some tomato and basil plants in the Kansas Mutual Aid Community Garden on Vermont Street between Eighth and Ninth streets, in preparation for colder weather in the forecast. A frost warning is in the forecast, as temperatures are expected to dip to 32 degrees or below tonight and Thursday. For more on the forecast, see page 8B.

Phones were ringing Tuesday in the office at Heetco Inc.

And ringing. And ringing.

All because the Lawrence area could experience its first freeze of the fall season tonight. That first big chill is always a good reminder to propane customers to get their tanks filled, said Mary Etta Thomsen, an employee in the Heetco office, 1853 E. 1450 Road.

“People usually wait until the last minute,” she said. “Some people wait beyond the last minute.”

As they prepare for winter, propane customers are getting some good news: Propane supplies are good, and barring any national or international catastrophes, there shouldn’t be any huge price increases.

“We don’t expect any shortages. Inventories are in good shape,” said Monte Milstead, Heetco’s vice president and general manager.

That also is the case with natural gas supplies, and there are several reasons for it, said Larissa Long, community relations spokeswoman for the Lawrence Aquila gas office.

One reason is that the expected hurricane season didn’t materialize, thus there were no disruptions in gas supplies or distribution, Long said. Moreover, gas supply storage is at historic levels, she said.

As a result, the billing rate for this month is 76 cents while a year ago it was $1.59, which is a 52 percent decrease, Long said. That doesn’t mean every customer’s bill will drop that much, however. Usage levels play key roles in final bills, she said.

“This is really very good for our customers, and we hope that it stays that way, but quite honestly a lot will depend on the winter weather,” Long said. “We encourage our customers to continue to use their energy wisely.”

The cooler weather means plenty of business at Heetco Inc., where Gregg White repairs some patio heaters. The propane service company reported a surge of calls Tuesday.

Last year, propane users saw prices that varied from $1.50 per gallon to more than $2, Milstead said.

“Last year we got as high as $1.64, but we weren’t up there very long. We’ve been at $1.59 for about the last six months,” Milstead said.

Propane prices do not change dramatically from day to day like gasoline prices, Milstead said. He doesn’t foresee propane prices dropping much unless crude oil prices continue to drop. Both crude oil and natural gas are used in propane production.

“If something happens in the Middle East, then all bets are off,” Milstead said.

No shortage of electricity is expected, nor are any spikes in prices. Summer months are the high usage months for electrical systems, a Westar Energy spokeswoman said.

The temperature is expected to drop to the freezing mark of 32 degrees tonight and again Thursday night, 6News meteorologist Matt Sayers said. Last year the first freeze didn’t hit Lawrence until Oct. 25, although the temperature dropped to 33 on Oct. 8, he said.