Bitterly cold weather is driving up propane prices and another round of cold weather is expected to slam into the area for the remainder of the week. An e-mail from Emergency Management Director Pat Kobbe said that the area is in the 6-10” snow range for Tuesday. A weather.com forecast updated Tuesday at 5 am predicted 4-6 inches. Another snowstorm is forecast for Saturday and nighttime temperatures are expected to be below zero much of the time. Temperatures are not expected to warm up again until next Tuesday. Community Services Director Mary Jo Fletchall said that there had been a lot of people applying for winter heating assistance and asking for help with propane costs. The City of Grant City received a request from a resident just outside city limits to be hooked up to the city’s gas service; the city responded at their special meeting January 29th that it would cost $6,000 to $7,000 just to bring their side of the line to the city limits and that it would not be feasible unless the customer bore the whole cost of the hookup.
In a news release, Missouri House Speaker Tim Jones reported that there is a bill in the Missouri House calling on the US Department of Justice to look into allegations of price gouging; propane prices have tripled in the past month. "The huge, unexpected price increase has been an enormous burden on many Missouri families and farmers who want nothing more than to have access to affordable heating during these bitterly cold months," said Jones, R-Eureka. "We want to take every action possible to protect Missourians from what many fear is blatant price gouging. We know our local suppliers are not at fault, but we want the Justice Department to get to the root of this problem as quickly as possible."
In response to a request from Rep. Jay Houghton (R-Martinsburg), Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster has already launched an investigation into price gouging according to a news release from Houghton’s office. "This shortage is hurting small business and our most vulnerable citizens. They need answers and solutions, and I hope that the Attorney General's investigation finds them," Houghton said in his news release. "Many residents in my district make their living in agriculture, and they need propane to keep their livestock barns heated. There are 50 days left in winter, and we need to get this taken care of."
Houghton’s news release discusses some of the root causes of the propane price increases. According to the U.S. Energy information Administration, exports of propane from the United States rose by 73,000 barrels a day between September and October of 2013. He says that steep increase in exports so close to winter almost guaranteed a domestic shortage.
Some in the industry are blaming the wet corn harvest in Minnesota and North Dakota for the current predicament. While propane is the primary fuel for drying corn, Houghton says there is no way a small market in one or two states would be able to cause a nationwide shortage-especially when the corn harvest was done months ago.
Missouri Senate Majority Floor Leader Ron Richard sent a news release discussing some more factors and noted that in some suppliers’ cases, the propane is not even available to buy. According to the Missouri Propane Gas Association, there are a few possible reasons for the shortage of propane. The cold weather is one of the main challenges the consumers are facing. Also, a pipeline, which provided about 40 percent of the product used by Minnesota supplies, was shut down for repairs while a new pipeline moved propane from the central part of the country to new export terminals on the Gulf Coast. Adding to the shortage, as the harvest season ended, a "polar vortex" rolled across the region causing the demand for heat to soar.
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