Posted on 01/27/2014 2:55:40 AM PST by Red in Blue PA
As brutal cold continues to blast much of the nation, a propane shortage is driving up heating bills, prompting accusations of price gouging and leading to energy emergencies in more than a dozen states.
"They're worried they might not be able to keep those chickens warm," said Jeff Helms of the Alabama Farmers Federation.
And consumers are grousing about higher prices.
"It looks like there's some price gouging going on," said Phillip Wallace, director of schools in Stewart County, Tenn., which were closed Thursday and Friday because they were short on propane for heating classrooms. The district was due to receive 2,000 gallons. But Wallace complained the propane cost $3.45 a gallon, up from $1.29.
(Excerpt) Read more at mcall.com ...
You can purchase a tank from another supplier...they will transfer the gas to the new tank....in many cases....they will give an equivalent tank to your old supplier and you get to own the original one....this saves them the cost of removing and replacing the old tank with a new one.
>>Agree. Back during the period after Hurricane Sandy, some gas stations were charging $6.00 per gallon. Some called that gouging.
Same after Katrina. We were traveling to the FL panhandle immediately post-Katrina. We were glad to pay for gas at that price level. It isn’t gouging unless there is a monopoly.
>>Youre Hank Hill, arent you.
No, Hank Hill is Hank Hill!
Who ya got?
I get mine from Shelby.
I’ve no idea the price yet.
What ‘shortage’?
I thought FRACKING had VASTLY increased ‘supply’!!!
Where do you think that TSC gets IT’s gas from?
Economics drives Everything; eventually.
We use gasoline in most all vehicles, then diesel (which is almost identical to fuel oil) then CNG/propane then electric.
I’d like to see a chart of the cost per BTU of each type of fuel:
Wood,
NG,
propane,
coal,
electricity...
They also bite your fannie if the price goes DOWN!
Then it's called Price Fixing: which is, I believe, illegal in many places.
We do it every winter for our little rental cabin. We keep it at 55 during the winter months.
Fracking increased the supply of natural gas not propane.
Correct. The economics of the synthetic/petrochemical industry drives the price and supply of propane.
Natural gas and propane are not the same thing. They cannot be used in the same appliances without changing jets and possibly even delivery lines (natural gas cannot be used with copper pipe, but propane can). It's not that simple to switch between them. So an abundance of one does not mitigate a lack of the other.
But other folks here said that they both track in the same direction.
A study by SoCal gas but no firm conclusions
www.copper.org/applications/fuelgas/pdf/south_cal_gas_final_report.pdf
and a safety brochure by another gas utlitiy
www.ameren.com/AboutUs/ADC_NaturalGasSafety.pdf
it appears that corrosion in copper caused by nat gas use may or may
not be a serious problem BUT the consensus appears to be that flared
connections are WAY more susceptible to corrosion & failure than
compression fittings
A good rule of thumb for fuel pricing is that everything causes the price to rise and this is a good thing. At least that’s what I’ve learned on FR.
And my age addled brain should have known that considering I had to convert my grill to run off of the natural gas at the house. DOH!
I've had propane radiant heaters in the past, don't want to do that again. I'll use my wood stove instead.
The difference is when I go to TSC and buy gas, I actually get it for the quoted price instead of being quoted one price and charged a higher price. The second difference is TSC is almost always cheaper since they buy wholesale and negotiate and I cannot having signed up for tank rental. Other companies are prohibited from filling my tank.
Last week a 20lb LP tank exchange was $19.99, this weekend $21.99.
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