Prolonged cold blast worsens propane shortage across Midwest

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By Erik Ortiz, Staff Writer, NBC News

America’s chronic cold is creating a significant propane shortage across the Midwest — leading Wisconsin to become the latest state to declare an energy emergency in advance of more arctic air blasting eastward this week.

 

Some 14 million Americans who rely on that type of fuel have been shelling out more and more to heat their homes while the strong demand has outpaced the already-low inventories, energy officials say.

Twenty-four states, including Ohio, Illinois and Alabama, have already declared energy emergencies — which helps to loosen transportation rules so that out-of-state truckers can drive longer hours to make needed propane deliveries.

“It’s not a permanent shortage and we won’t run out, but there are no avenues to deal with this shortage today other than a break in the weather,” Brandon Scholz, managing director of the Wisconsin Propane Gas Association, told Reuters. “We could be sitting in this situation to spring.”

Snow fell Sunday in parts of the upper Midwest, including Wisconsin, where the sub-zero overnight temperature is expected to hang around Monday and Tuesday, The Weather Channel reported.

 

More than 275 flights were canceled in Chicago alone on Sunday morning, according to FlightAware.com. The city also plans to close public schools Monday in anticipation of below zero and a minus-25 degree windchill.

The lingering cold snap prompted Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker to put all state agencies on emergency alert late Saturday.

“The health and safety of our citizens is our No. 1 priority, and this declaration gives us the necessary resources to protect the residents of Wisconsin,” Walker said in a statement.

His office said the short supply of propane was caused by record-breaking cold temperatures as well as production loss when a major pipeline supplying the fuel to parts of the Midwest was temporarily closed for maintenance last fall.

About 250,000 Wisconsinites rely on propane as a source for heat.

Most households are not connected directly to propane pipelines, and the system relies heavily on truck fleets now running at full capacity to get emergency supplies to states across the Midwest, Northeast and Southeast.

A spokesman for Pennsylvania-based AmeriGas, the largest U.S. propane retailer, said last week it was rationing deliveries to “small pockets” of Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee, reducing supplies to 100 gallons per customer from the standard delivery of some 250 gallons.

“Supply is very tight. There is propane to be had out there, but there are supply and transport issues across the country,” spokesman Simon Bowman said.

All the while, federal policymakers representing the Midwest have heard complaints from constituents angry about high fuel prices.

On Friday, propane heading for the Midwest changed hands at $4.30 a gallon — more than double its price a week earlier — although it had traded even higher at close to $5 a gallon on Thursday.

Meanwhile, natural gas users in parts of the Midwest are feeling a similar strain after a natural gas pipeline south of Winnipeg, Canada, exploded early Saturday, reported NBC affiliate WEAU in Eau Claire, Wis.

Utilities, including Xcel Energy and Minnesota Energy Resources, are asking more than 100,000 customers to turn down their thermostats or use alternate heating fuels as a precaution to overloading the system.

Xcel, which has customers in Minnesota, Wisconsin and North Dakota, said in a statement that natural gas supplies “currently are adequate.” But officials couldn’t immediately say when service would return to normal.

No one was hurt in the pipeline blast, and Canadian officials said they were still determining the cause. TransCanada Corp., which operates the pipeline that exploded, didn’t immediately return a request for comment Sunday.

The request for customers to watch their natural gas usage comes as more dangerous cold is hitting the Plains, Midwest and Northeast, and is expected to stick around through the end of the month.

Forecasters warn that sub-zero temperatures will be fixtures in cities such as Chicago and Milwaukee for the next couple of days, while the Northeast, including Philadelphia and Boston, will struggle to stay above the teens and 20s. 

Central Michigan mom Julie Palmer was happy to take her kids to an outdoor Winter Wonderland festival outside Lansing this weekend. But she told NBC affiliate WILX that she is no fan of this winter.

“It’s been horrible, miserable, cold,” she said. “We’re ready for spring.”

 

http://usnews.nbcnew...cid=msnhp&pos=6

[Fat]

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Just a byproduct of global warming. Al Gore would never lie to us!

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We got our heater going 24 hours a day in Illinois. It certainly is most cold outside this winter. Last year was mostly a mild winter. This year is the worse I have seen since I moved over here 8 years ago. Our ride came to pick us up and even just to get the ground and grass my feet were slipping down in the snow. I tried to make small lighter steps.

The wind was blowing and I was wearing sweats. Not a good idea after all to have sweats. The wind goes through them easily. I could feel the sting of the cold as I would lift up my voice every time I felt the wind. Listen I am only talking about walking as far as a few houses where our ride needed to drop us off in a safer part to walk on the trail.

For in other areas the snow was higher. Some of these neighbors don’t keep up with the snow like we do here. There is no good reason at all to be outside. I feel bad for anyone that has an outside job all day long. As for Global warming I have heard in some articles that they are falling away from the theory and figuring out why.

We are getting all this arctic weather. It reminds me of the verse in the Bible where Jesus says woe unto those days. Pray women that you will not give birth on the Sabbath or in the winter. Woe and terrible those days will be. God was not kidding about the winter aspect. We are beginning to see these terrible winters bringing us closer to those terrible days Jesus told us about. It's hard to believe anyone can survive out there too long of a time. I can see now why those Russians like to wear all those Fur hats fur coats to endure such cold conditions. We in Illinois feel like we are in the middle of Siberia.

[Fat]

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I am in the Idaho Panhandle, it has been cold for us but very dry, a very light snow year. No records are being set here, in fact I would not mind if most winners were like this except for the unusual amount of wind we've had.

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 I did not know Idaho was considered to be in a shape of a panhandle. I once said it looked kind of like a gun. But I think to say a panhandle is more fitting of a description. Maybe Idaho is now known as the soup kitchen state.    I’m just being friendly here.
 
I am originally from California and I think that state looks like a telephone. Especially and more the phones we had in the past. I still like the somewhat regular hand held Phone receivers than those really tiny star trek size mobile phones. I don’t need to keep up with the Smith’s or the Millers.
 
I wanted to ask you if that  is ok. But what are things like in Idaho? Is it attainable enough for one to make a living? Does a person need to drive long distances for shopping or other things one needs to get to live by? Outside of Potatoes what other things is Idaho known to produce or manufacture of any type of occupations in the state? Do you think your state is swamped down by our current economy, or this state has done pretty well for itself in consideration of the times we live in?

We once were looking into Utah where we found out that stores were very far away. This is Southern Utah George town that we were looking into. Well you see fat I am not exactly a fan of snow fall. But then again I am not too crazy about Diamond head snakes in Arizona either. Recently one was caught at some record number with six inch teeth. I would be running for miles. As you see though I have been more used to the city life but I think we could move to an area part city and part not to far to trees water and stuff like that. Kind of a dual enjoyment. . Idaho I wonder if they had these things.
 
One thing I have been told and not sure if it is true but people are often more kind in Idaho than say Calif. would you think so? Its the one thing I don't like about California. People drive really fast. They will run into you if you don't move even a pedestrian. They often don’t take time to go out of the way for other people. But as in every state when you look around you will eventually find some Christian neighborly people . But Christians were much a minority despite the high number of Churches Calif provides.. I don’t know the Illinois factor. My fiancee knows this state and she can more determine Churches and Christians living here. I've mostly been around the local areas. We don't go into danger Chicago unless we have to.