“There are people cutting down trees in our front yard,” a woman said on the phone to her husband.
“It’s alright. I told them they could,” he said.
The tree cutters sought firewood to warm their houses during the propane shortage that has gripped Michigan since January, said Christopher Busch, professor of English and neighbor to the couple.
Increased demand for propane as households try to keep warm in an unusually frigid winter and various negative supply shocks created the propane shortage. Prices have risen significantly, while the shortage continues.
The weekly reported Michigan residential propane prices jumped 37 percent the week of Jan. 27, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration data. Prices peaked at $3.76/gallon the week of the Feb. 3 and have since fallen to $3.35/gallon, still 26 percent higher than before the spike.
Though the shortage was caused by many factors, increased demand this fall by corn farmers seeking to dry a wet record harvest was especially significant, according to Caywood Propane Gas Inc.’s “Propane Supply Shortage FAQs” blog. Mechanical trouble at many supply terminals servicing large haulers also contributed, according to the blog, as did temperatures much lower than those of last year’s unusually warm winter.
According to the blog, decreasing propane imports and rapidly increasing propane exports also contributed. Propane exports were 74 percent higher in 2013 (through November, the latest month for which data is available) than in the same period in 2012, according to USEIA data.
The Community Action Agency provides heating assistance to those in need within Hillsdale County.
Maxine Vanlerberg, the agency’s Hillsdale County director, said the shortage has changed the way they provide their clients propane.
“All the rules changed basically,” she said. “Nothing works the same as it has in the past.”
Not only are the prices higher, but propane companies also have been more restrictive with their deliveries. While in previous years they would fill tanks at 20 percent capacity or lower, last week most were not delivering until the tanks were at 10 percent, Vanlerberg said. Most also restricted deliveries to 100 gallons at once for 330-gallon
tanks and 250 gallons for 500-gallon tanks. And other companies were sold out.
The CAA is also having difficulty arranging same-day deliveries, Vanlerberg said. She
said one local woman went an entire weekend without propane.
Not only has the shortage made fuel assistance more difficult, it has also led more
people to seek help.
Between Jan. 13 and Feb. 20, the CAA assisted 86 families with propane.
Last year it only assisted 24 during the same period, Vanlerberg said.
“We’ve seen more people in a crisis mode than ever before,” she said.
“People are very stressed out. So if I tell you that we’ve been pulling our hair out, you
would see why. It’s been real crazy here.”
The CAA is still able to offer aid, and those interested should call ahead.
Vanlerberg said that, though prices are still high, the situation has eased slightly since
the worst of it. Most companies lifted their delivery restrictions by the middle of last week. None of the people the CAA helped Monday faced restrictions, she said.
In another blog post, Caywood wrote that they expect prices to come down slowly as the reduction works its way down the supply chain. They expect the process will be unstable, because as the price falls, some of those who’ve been holding off will start purchasing again, increasing demand and spiking the price back up.
An anonymous Hillsdale College employee said that heating her home with propane this year and the last has been extremely difficult. She objected to “the whole idea that someone who works full time and is good at what they do can’t afford to heat their home in this day and age.”
“I at least have a wood-burning fireplace in my living room and a couple of electric heaters I use for taking a shower and in the bedroom at night,” she said.
She said she also uses an electric blanket.
Busch said he would also use wood, but that it’s not safe to fell trees with all this snow on the ground. He said the deep snow prevents wood cutters from moving away quickly enough if a tree falls in the wrong direction, which is why those felling trees tend to cut along roads, where the snow is shallower.
Busch has been affected by his propane company’s filling limits, but said he understands the need to make sure there’s enough propane left for others.
“I think they’re just trying to keep people warm,” he said.
