NEWPORT – If you are heating your home with propane, you already know it’s costing you more than usual this winter. What you might not know is that you’re paying the price for a propane shortage that has nothing to do with cold temperatures in the Northeast. The problem lies in the Midwest, and the way that farmers dry their corn crops.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the average price of residential propane in Vermont during the month of February was $4.36 per gallon. That’s an increase of $1.15 per gallon since October.
This increase is a result of a propane shortage which started in the fall of 2013, when farmers in the Midwest used around 300 million gallons of propane to dry their corn crops. This was much more than usual. How much more? About 235 million gallons more.
The reason for such a dramatic spike in propane use is blamed on wetter-than-normal corn from the 2013 harvest. Part of the reason that the corn did not dry in the field was that it was planted late.
When corn does not dry in the field, grain elevator operators use propane-fueled heaters to get it to a lower moisture level so it can be safely stored.
According to the National Propane Gas Association, more than 660,000 farmers use propane for irrigation pumps, grain dryers, standby generators and other farm equipment. Besides crop drying, propane is used by farmers for fruit ripening, water heating, and food refrigeration.
The other major factor causing an increase in propane prices is the export market. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, by January 2013 U.S exports of propane were at 168,000 barrels per day. By October, exports had jumped to 408,000 barrels per day.
Vermont Senators Bernie Sanders, Patrick Leahy, and Congressman Peter Welch asked U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker in February to use emergency powers to temporarily restrict exports of propane.
They pointed out that prices for the fuel have risen over 30 percent in just three months.
