Propane Shortage in U.P. of Michigan

DennisH · Post by **DennisH** » Sun. Dec. 22, 2013 8:16 pm

Governor of Michigan signs an emergency executive order to temporarily suspend time/distance restrictions to ensure delivery of propane to areas hit by shortages. Looks like I was thinking correctly in summer of 2010, when I bought our U.P. house, to install a wood/coal furnace so that we weren't dependent on very expensive propane. Now that some people are sweating bullets about supply, we are thanking our lucky stars that "proper prior planning prevented p*ss poor performance." We are cozy and warm.

http://www.uppermichiganssource.com/news/story.as ... reNgfuS1js

Post by **Rob R.** » Sun. Dec. 22, 2013 8:30 pm

Recently I read an article about a shortage of rail tanker cars. Must be they are all going to haul crude? Anyway, the article said that LP shortages were likely this winter.

DennisH · Post by **DennisH** » Sun. Dec. 22, 2013 8:37 pm

Our tank is 65 percent full, so we have no worries, especially since it's our backup heat source only. We really use it for cooking and clothes dryer. I have enough coal and seasoned hardwood on hand to last us about 3 years. Maybe prepared a bit to excess, but it sure beats worrying about staying warm!

jubileejerry · Post by **jubileejerry** » Sun. Dec. 22, 2013 9:23 pm

They had the same emergency situation in South Dakota, with the Governor lifting weight limits and driving times for tanker trucks because the crops, especially corn, weren't drying enough in the fields so the farmers were going through propane like there was no tomorrow. Millions of bushels of corn were in danger of spoiling and finding corn at or under 18% moisture in the fields was very rare. I haven't asked lately, but around here it was still 17.5-19% a couple of weeks ago. The grain elevators don't really even want it until it's about 15% or less. If it's higher than that the farmers get docked a hefty percentage of the selling price. You should see the huge piles of corn just setting out on the ground, some holding a million bushels, because there aren't enough train cars, aerated storage bins or grain driers available. Jerry

blrman07 · Post by **blrman07** » Mon. Dec. 23, 2013 5:22 am

Sounds like a possible boom market for corn stoves?

Rev. Larry

cabinover · Post by **cabinover** » Mon. Dec. 23, 2013 5:26 am

I know here in VT, working for an LP company, that transports from terminals to our tanks aren't keeping up that well. People are still warm so far though fortunately.

Post by **Lightning** » Mon. Dec. 23, 2013 6:28 am

What prices are you guys seeing on propane? What's the speculation it could go up to per gallon?

jubileejerry · Post by **jubileejerry** » Mon. Dec. 23, 2013 7:43 am

blrman07 wrote:Sounds like a possible boom market for corn stoves?

Rev. Larry

I doubt it. The corn still has to be dry, but it isn't, and the price is still a bit high to be attractive to those people. The people who bought them in the last boom found out there are all kinds of problems with them. Some of them won't feed right and were just a PITA to keep working. There are storage problems with the fuel and people who never had a mouse problem really had a good supply. The heat is nice, though! I came very close to buying one and even considered getting a dealership. Sure glad I backed off that idea! Jerry

cabinover · Post by **cabinover** » Mon. Dec. 23, 2013 3:57 pm

Lightning wrote:What prices are you guys seeing on propane? What's the speculation it could go up to per gallon?

After watching delivery prices I really can't say it's moved much, if it all.

No word on where it will go though.

DennisH · Post by **DennisH** » Tue. Dec. 24, 2013 5:19 am

My propane company allows us to "lock in" a price each July-August for the upcoming heating season with a minimum buy of 500 gallons. This year it was $1.67. Has been coming down steadily since I bought this house in 2010. That year it was $2.32. We use propane for cooking, hot water, dryer. We use it for heat in the fall and spring on those "shoulder" days when it's cold in the morning but warms up enough during the day not to need heat. Wife won't let me burn coal or wood if the nighttime temps are above 40 - says she gets too warm. So, we use our 500 gal per year, but I'd hate to think what I'd be burning now with this bitter cold wave we've had for the past month almost in the U.P. of Michigan. I'd say an easy 4-5 percent per day at these temps. I'm going through 2-3 bags of coal per day on the really bitter days, so not bad.

jubileejerry · Post by **jubileejerry** » Fri. Dec. 27, 2013 6:59 pm

Lightning wrote:What prices are you guys seeing on propane? What's the speculation it could go up to per gallon?

Today we had our propane tank topped off and the price was $1.899 delivered. We live in the country about 25 mi. south of Sioux City, Iowa. Jerry

Post by **Lightning** » Fri. Dec. 27, 2013 10:22 pm

jubileejerry wrote:
Lightning wrote:What prices are you guys seeing on propane? What's the speculation it could go up to per gallon?
Today we had our propane tank topped off and the price was $1.899 delivered. We live in the country about 25 mi. south of Sioux City, Iowa. Jerry

Thanks for the reply

That's not too bad yet. I quit propane at $3.29

jubileejerry · Post by **jubileejerry** » Fri. Jan. 24, 2014 7:40 pm

On the Sioux City, Ia news tonight, the big story was 2 weeks ago propane was going for $1.84 and today it hit $4.24 in places. Jerry

lsayre · Post by **lsayre** » Sat. Jan. 25, 2014 7:14 am

With fracking and horizontal drilling opening up the lanes to more oil and natural gas spurting out of the ground than ever before, and with 45% of propane coming from processing oil and 55% coming from processing natural gas, something sounds very fishy here. The USA should be swimming in an abundance of cheap propane right now.

jubileejerry · Post by **jubileejerry** » Sun. Jan. 26, 2014 12:00 am

The dealers around here are blaming it on having to go all the way to Conway, Kansas or into Arkansas to get loads, and might have to go to Texas yet. I don't know how much freight costs can affect it when I don't know of any propane-producing plants anywhere in the area, so I'd assume they're already shipping it in from a long distance. I admit I know almost nothing about that business, but if gasoline jumped from $1.84/gal. to $5.24 in one week the government would have a riot on its hands! Jerry