Tight Propane Supply Reaches Crisis -- The Wall Street Journal -- February 10, 2014

Updates

April 1, 2014: Park Rapids Enterprise says problems that led to propane shortage have not been fixed, but because of spring/summer weather, folks will forget. We will see what winter of 2014-2015 brings. 

February 21, 2014: update on this story. FERC issued a one-week order, than extended the order for another week. 
 

Original Post

Link here.

Federal and state officials are pushing emergency measures to get propane to people who need the gas to heat their homes in the Midwest and other regions of the country beset by persistent frigid temperatures.

The measures, which include extending working hours for truckers and ordering a pipeline company to prioritize shipments to areas with tight supplies, are meant to alleviate a propane crunch that has sent prices for the fuel to record highs in some parts of the country.

"The propane shortage has been a crisis for thousands of families and farmers in Minnesota and across the region," Sen. Al Franken, who represents the North Star State, said in a statement.

He has been asking various federal agencies to help route more propane to places in need. Governors in affected states are trying to increase propane deliveries and make funds available for residents to pay higher heating bills.

In Minnesota, Governor Mark Dayton expanded the state's heating assistance program to increase the number of households eligible to receive its funds by 120.000. Indiana Gov. Mike Pence waived fees for overweight propane loads for suppliers, and is asking farmers to make available whatever supplies they have leftover from the harvest-drying season.

The good news: Al Franken, with his long experience in the oil and gas industry AND in government knows exactly who to call. LOL. Literally.

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North Dakota death due to propane shortage. The Minot Daily News is reporting:

Authorities on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in the Dakotas hope to know by the weekend whether a woman found dead in a mobile home with an empty propane tank died from the cold, as people nationwide struggle to stay warm due to a lack of affordable fuel.

Debbie Dogskin's body was discovered Tuesday morning at her Fort Yates home, but a cause of death was not immediately determined. An autopsy was planned Wednesday morning, with results possible by Friday, Sioux County Sheriff Frank Landeis said.
The temperature in Fort Yates dropped to 1 degree below zero early Tuesday, and the inside of the mobile home was just as cold, according to the sheriff.

"Being that the house was so cold, and the position of her body, leads us to think that she just froze to death," Landeis said. He declined to elaborate. He also declined to say how old Dogskin was, though tribal officials have said she was in her early 50s.