States, propane industry urging residents to stock up now, in case of another brutal winter

Last year's brutal winter hit many Americans in the pocketbooks, especially people who depend on propane for heat. Residents living in rural areas and in the Midwestern U.S. who rely on propane spent about 54 percent more last winter than in 2012-13, while those relying on heating oil, largely in the Northeast, paid about 7 percent more, natural gas consumers 10 percent more and electricity consumers 5 percent more. That's why states and the propane industry are asking residents to think ahead this year, just in case another harsh winter is around the corner. (Peakoil.com graphic)

Roy Willis, president and CEO of the Propane Education and Research Council, told the National Association of State Energy Officials: “America makes more than enough propane to meet U.S. demand, yet the transportation challenges we faced last winter stressed many propane providers and customers. The best thing propane customers can do to avoid any weather-related difficulties this winter is fill their tanks now.”

“By filling tanks early, customers and propane retailers, many of whom are small businesses, can better plan for supply needs and work together to ensure that everyone has a comfortable and safe winter," he said. "Because delivery and payment programs vary by company, it’s important that customers have a conversation with their provider to start making plans for winter today.” (Read more)

States are also urging residents to be prepared. Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder said, “Last winter was one we’ll all remember. This is especially true for some propane customers who found it challenging to find additional propane as cold temperatures lingered. That’s why now is the time to get an early fill, lock-in prices ahead of the heating season and get on a budget payment plan, if available.” The state website offers tips and resources for being better prepared this winter. (Read more)

Minnesota, which had its coldest winter in 30 years and suffered propane shortages, is also asking residents to fill up early, Nick Gerhardt reports for the Kenyon Leader. To combat the shortage problem, Dave Wager, Propane Operations Manager of Central Valley Coop in Northfield, said "more than 20 million more gallons have been delivered in Minnesota this summer compared to last year."

The Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet and the state's propane industry said in addition to filling up tanks early, residents should enroll in automatic propane delivery instead of waiting until they need more, monitor propane tanks and request more when it hits 25 percent instead of when it's almost empty, consider going on budget plans to avoid large winter bills and look into fuel efficiency options. (Read more)

Some propane users advised to conserve due to fear of shortages from winter delivery problems

We don't have one with snow ...

In this especially cold and snowy winter in much of the nation, residents are struggling to cope with the lack of resources to keep warm—especially in rural areas, which are, in some cases, beyond the reach of utilities. Depleting propane stocks are the biggest problem; according to the Propane Education & Research Council, more than 14 million families and 1 million businesses rely on propane to heat their homes and workplaces, Elisha Fieldstadt reports for NBC News.

Propane users are encouraged to limit their consumption because of the shortage. "Propane customers in the Upper Peninsula should use their propane supplies wisely in the coming weeks by reducing usage and avoiding energy waste," Michigan Public Service Commission Chairman John Quackenbush told NBC affiliate WILX on Monday.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich declared an energy emergency and called for the delivery of propane gas shipments along with top officials in 17 other states. They loosened rules for energy transportation to help deliver propane to those who need it, Fieldstadt writes.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, One reason for the propane deficit its use in November to dry corn crops during a rainy harvest. "Propane prices in the Midwest will likely need to rise to keep propane in the region," and mid-January, average propane prices in the U.S. were 58 centers higher per gallon than during the same time last year, EIA reported.

Winter storm warnings are in effect today for New England, Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C., including areas along the coast of New York, Connecticut and New Jersey. (Read more)

Rising propane prices hit rural Upper Midwest hard

One of the coldest winters in years in the Upper Midwest has been especially trying for rural residents who don't have natural-gas service and depend on propane and other "deliverable fuels" to heat their homes. The price of propane has "gone up about 35 percent since last year, nearing $2 per gallon," and that means some residents cannot afford to make the upfront payments required by suppliers, reports The Associated Press.

Moratorium protection forces large utilities to keep supplying customers even if a customer misses a payment during winter months, but those laws don't apply to propane users who might not be able to pay the $500 cost for delivery of a 250-gallon tank of propane. The Northeast Iowa Community Action Corp. "distributes federal heating assistance funds to about 4,000 people in seven largely rural counties, with about a third relying on propane, oil and wood," AP reports. The group, however, said there is about 45 less money for propane subsidies this year and that the average energy assistance benefit of $400 will do little for many propane users. (Read more)

For information on propane and its prices, from the federal Energy Information Administration, click here.

Propane providers, in renewed push to get the fuel into vehicles, say we should call it 'autogas'

Could propane, whose rounded oblong taks make it a familiar fuel in much of rural America, become a major alternative to gasoline and diesel fuel? The National Propane Gas Association hopes so, and has formed a coalition that it hopes will also lend a new name to propane: Autogas for America.

"The coalition launched last month in an effort to unite the fractured industry around promoting the fuel for transportation," reports Jason Plautz of Environment & Energy News. "Their pitch: The domestically produced gas burns cleaner than petroleum, is cheaper than other fuels, and the infrastructure is available now." Well, not really, if you consider vehicles part of the infrastructure. However, automakers are making more conversion or propane-only engines, and some vehicle owners are capable of installing their own conversion kits.

"Fueling stations can be set up in a matter of days for just $15,000 because the fuel can be stored in a liquid state in large tanks. Natural gas, meanwhile, needs a compression system," Plautz writes. "The rise of liquid propane injection engines, which delivers the fuel straight into the combustion cylinder, makes such storage facilities more viable."

However, several tax credits for propane as transportation fuel are set to expire at the end of the year, and "The autogas industry is also facing competition from other alternative forms of transportation, some with significantly larger lobbies," Plautz writes. Many propane suppliers are small, family-owned businesses, and that has undercut previous efforts to get the fuel into vehicles. "Even though autogas offers the industry a stable, year-round funding source, many companies do not see the need to expand beyond the local home heating market," Plautz writes. What does your local propane dealer think? (Read more, subscription required)

Propane crisis stems from perfect storm of factors; feds order pipeline to change shipments

"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," Ana Campoy reports for The Wall Street Journal. "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 Federal Energy Regulatory Commission order to Enterprise TE Products Pipeline Co., "to give priority to shipments going from Texas to the Midwest and the Northeast," was "the first time the agency issued such an order," Campoy reports.

Mark Burger delivered propane near Clinton, Iowa.
(NYT photo by Scott Wilson, Getty Images)

The propane crisis was caused by a perfect storm of very cold weather, rising exports, pipeline problems and a wet corn crop, Alan Blinder and Clifford Krauss report for The New York Times, with the help of two other reporters; the four were in Texas, Alabama, Iowa and Nebraska.

"Five times as much propane was used to dry corn in recent months because of a bumper crop of wet corn last year, the result of heavy rains at the end of the growing season. Meanwhile, American propane exports exceeded 400,000 barrels a day for the first time in October, according to a recent report by the consultants RBN Energy."

The Times reports that 20 or more states "have declared emergencies or suspended certain transportation regulations, including limits on how long propane delivery drivers can remain on the road. Some states are opting for — or are at least weighing — more aggressive tactics," such as an Indiana plan to forgo sales taxes on bulk purchases at over $2.50 a gallon.

"There are also signs that the industry’s answer could soon become more forceful," the Times reports. "Oneok Inc., the pipeline giant, told federal regulators last week that it could reverse the flow of a propane pipeline to bolster supplies at a Kansas storage hub with supplies from Oklahoma. The company, however, did not say when it might act." Meanwhile, some hog and poultry farmers worry if they will be able to keep their stock warm or at least alive. (Wall Street Journal graphic)

Propane crisis worsens; prices more than double

The crisis in propane, primarily a rural fuel, is hitting people in their pocketbooks. Shortages have driven up prices to levels never seen before. “Five dollars and 11 cents a gallon I had to pay for it,” body-shop owner and Mayor Larry Atcher of Laurel, Iowa, population 240, told Dar Danielson of Radio Iowa. “I was sick to my stomach. You know?” In December, the price was $1.94.

Atcher said he has his home thermostat set at 55, and is using electric heaters, but worries about others: “I would think some elderly people and low-income families are the ones it’s going to hurt the worst, because if you get caught without propane and can’t afford it, what do you do? Do you buy propane or do you buy food?” (Read more)

"The effects of the crisis will reach beyond homes and farms to local businesses, churches and schools . . . in the middle of the nation," Missouri's Nodaway News Leader reports, citing data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration: "Between September and October of 2013, exports of propane from the United States rose by 73,000 barrels a day. That level of exports so close to winter almost guaranteed a domestic shortage. The Missouri Propane Gas Association also noted a pipeline, which provide much of the Midwest 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. Over 6 million people in the center of the country use propane to heat their homes. Because extremely cold temperatures remain in the forecast in the coming weeks, the situation could get worse." (Read more)

Grillers beware: Propane tanks used in meth labs

The threat of methamphetamine, disproportionately produced in rural areas, has a twist that might extend to people not involved with the drug -- especially at this time of year. According to the National Propane Gas Association, meth producers are pumping stolen anhydrous ammonia into used propane storage tanks. "These cylinders have been found in many states at cylinder exchange and refilling locations as well as in hotel rooms and mobile laboratories," the association says. Read more. The association re-issued a safety alert on the subject that was first issued five years ago, Dean Narciso writes for The Columbus Dispatch, reporting that the group "says it has not heard of any related injuries or death" from meth used propane tanks." Read more. (Photo from tanktraders.com)

"People should not be discouraged, however, from using propane tanks to grill, but should watch for the signs of misuse whenever purchasing one," Stanley Dunlap writes for the Jackson Sun in Tennessee. "The chance of receiving a tank used in a meth lab is remote, but people should still inspect them." Read more.

Blue Rhino, America's leading propane-tank exchanger, says its employees look for, and are trained to identify, tanks that may have been used to make meth. "Propane tanks that have been used in meth production typically have a very strong ammonia order and an obvious, extensive blue-green color covering the valve," businesswire.com reports. Tod Brown, president of Blue Rhino, says, "Of the millions of tanks processed in a year, we encounter only a very, very few tanks that may have been used in meth production." Read more.

Price of propane near all-time high

In North Carolina, the cost of propane is approaching an all-time high, reports John Murawski for the News and Observer. In the past week, propane prices in the state ranged from $2.27 a gallon to $3.90 a gallon, according to surveys taken by the N.C. State Energy Office. The statewide average was $2.97 a gallon, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, up 13 percent in the past year.

Fifteen percent of North Carolina households use propane for heating,  often in rural areas. Propane is purchased from independent dealers who are to set their own prices. The price of heating oil has tripled in the state over the last decade. The rise in the cost of propane is an early indicator that other heating costs will be going up soon. Other utilitilies purchase fuel in long-term contracts and large volume, so can delay an increase in costs. Their rates are also regulated by the state. (Read more)

Fear of high winter heating costs raises demand for firewood in rural Minnesota; supplies are low

Rural residents in the Midwestern U.S. who rely on propane spent about 54 percent more last winter than in 2012-13. Because of anticipation of another brutal winter, the fear of propane shortages and the high costs of keeping warm, firewood is in high demand in rural Minnesota, and supplies are running low, John Enger reports for Minnesota Public Radio.

Minnesota officials say propane shortage won't be a problem this year, with residents having already stocked up on 1.35 million gallons of propane, a 30 percent increase in pre-season sales, said Roger Leider, Minnesota Propane Association executive director, Enger writes. "Firewood, on the other hand, is in critically high demand. Reserves were bled dry last year, and spring logging was stalled by muddy ground. Last month Twin Cities-area firewood suppliers made news when they were unable to keep up with orders." (Enger photo: Chris White cuts wood to sell to lumber mills)

Loggers Tim, Dean and Duane White typically cut 500 cords for area lumber mills in the northern part of the state but have already met that demand this year with another 500 on order that have already been sold, Enger writes. Because of the high demand and the difficulty of getting to greater supplies, the Whites have had to raise prices from $75 to $80 per cord for green, lower-grade firewood and bump up the cost for oak from $80 to $85.

It's estimated that in northern Minnesota heating a typical home with wood costs about $640, Enger writes. "Beltrami Electric Cooperative estimates it costs about $2,100 to heat with standard electricity, though that cost can drop to $1,340 if there is a secondary source of heat, like a wood stove, and off-peak pricing kicks in." (Read more)

A new method of hydraulic fracturing for natural gas could have less impact on the environment

New natural-gas drilling technology developed by Canadian company GasFrac removes water from the controversial drilling method known as "hydraulic fracturing" and replaces it with a thick gel made of propane. Brian Nearing of the Albany Times Union and Anthony Brino of InsideClimate News report the likelihood of environmental harm is decreased with liquified propane gas fracturing, or "gas fracking," because there's no risk of tainted drilling water being mishandled and threatening human health and the environment.

The use of hydraulic fracturing has recently been a topic of much controversy in many rural areas, and state and local regulations have been drafted or passed-to limit use of the method. (U.S. Energy Information Administration map shows shales with gas; click map for larger version)

Nearing and Brino report that gas fracking works similarly to hydraulic fracturing, pumping sand or man-made materials into shale formations where gas is trapped under high pressure to fracture the shale and release the gas. Under the high pressure and heat, the propane gel turns to vapor and returns to the surface with the gas, free of drilling chemicals and underground radioactive material. Once on the surface, it's collected and reused.

Though the method is still relatively new, it already has strong proponents such as David Burnett, professor of petroleum engineering at Texas A&M University, who told Nearing and Brino that gas fracking "can serve two ends—protecting the environment and reducing costs to the drilling industry of handling and disposing of tainted water." He said there's no reason the method can't be effective.

The industry, however, is waiting to measure the exact effectiveness of the method before changing its approach to drilling. GasFrac Chief Technology Officer Robert Lestz told Nearing and Brino that only time would tell whether or not gas fracking will "make inroads in a global drilling industry that began using water-based fracking in the late 1940s and since has invested vast amounts in that technology." Hydrofracking is currently the most widely used gas well drilling method in the world. Said Lestz: "The infrastructure is already there for water, people have already put millions into it. Sometimes the good is the enemy of the great." (Read more)

Cold temperatures, supply problems mean average propane users are paying a lot more for heat

A federal report found that people living in rural areas and in the Midwestern U.S. who depend on propane for heat will end up spending 54 percent more for it this winter than last winter, Clifford Krauss reports for The New York Times: "Those who rely on heating oil, largely in the Northeast, will be paying 7 percent more. Natural gas consumers will pay 10 percent more and electricity consumers will pay 5 percent more."

The report by the U.S. Department of Energy found that the average cost of heating with propane in the Midwest could be $2,212 per household, $759 more than the agency projected in October, while homes using heating oil would spend $2,243, which is $197 higher than projections, Krauss writes. The problem has been colder temperatures for a sustained period, which has led to problems transporting fuels, leading to higher costs.

Temperatures this winter were 19 percent colder in the Midwest and South than last year, and 13 percent colder in the Northeast, Krauss writes. "The cold caused complications across the energy supply chain. A sudden jump in natural-gas prices raised costs for refineries that use the gas as a fuel but also as a feedstock for petrochemical products. Snow slowed railroads, which have become increasingly important for the delivery of crude from North Dakota. Unloading of fuel vessels was delayed in New York Harbor. In the Midwest, ethanol pipelines froze. Winter storms and fog even temporarily delayed shipments on the Houston Ship Channel between shipping terminals and refineries."

Krauss adds, "The harsh winter strained inventories of energy suppliers and forced utilities to switch fuels for their generators to meet demand. Limited natural-gas supplies and insufficient gas pipeline networks, for example, forced utilities to use other heavier, more polluting petroleum fuels like heating oil. After years of declines, consumption of such fuels more than doubled, to 471,000 barrels a day in the week that ended Jan. 17, from the 220,000-barrel-a-day average consumed in December and early January." (Read more)

Study finds volatile gases in water wells near shale-gas wells in Pennsylvania

People living close to shale-gas wells have a higher risk of drinking water contaminated by combustible gases, according to a study by researchers at Duke University, Dennis Thompson reports for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

"The study looked at 141 private water wells in the Marcellus Shale basin in northeastern Pennsylvania, where companies are using hydraulic fracturing to tap hard-to-access pockets of natural gas," Thompson reports. Methane was detected in 82 percent of the samples, with the average concentrations six times higher in homes about six-tenths of a mile from a natural gas well. Ethane and propane concentrations were also higher, with ethane 23 times higher in those wells, and propane found in 10 wells.

"These are volatile gases and in particular concentrations, they burn. If they leak into your home and build up, particularly in enclosed spaces, there's an explosive risk," Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, told Thompson. He did say that he doesn't see any risk in drinking the contaminated water, because it's unlikely someone could drink enough to become sick. (Read more)

Looking for a way around the gas stove controversy? This writer found a solution.

Americans are 'very attached to their gas stoves.'
(Photo by Donna Kallner, The Daily Yonder)

Chefs, cooks and bakers from all walks of life have claimed kinship with their gas stoves. For rural fans, their devotion goes beyond being able to control heat; it speaks to survival when electricity fails. "For those who've never lived out yonder, it can be hard to understand how often we deal with power outages, reports Donna Kallner of The Daily Yonder. "During an electrical outage, I cannot use my oven because there's no way to light it manually. But I can light the stovetop burners the old school way: A box of kitchen matches sits by the stove 24/7/365."

Gas ovens' reliability and long-time presence in American homes make their removal seem unlikely, even when residents like Kallner want cleaner, safer energy. "Most Americans would prefer to live in a home where almost all major appliances run on electricity — but only if they can keep their gas stoves," reports Tik Root of Grist. "Just 31 percent want to go fully electric. People across the political and demographic spectrum are very attached to their natural gas stoves — an affinity that was particularly strong among respondents who identified as Hispanic. Nationally, one-third of all homes use methane for cooking."

So, what is a possible solution? Kallner, a rural cook, found a solution: "Liquid propane is considered a very clean burning fossil fuel suitable for indoor use. It was approved as an alternative fuel under the Clean Air Act, as well as the National Energy Policy Act of 1992. About 90% of the LP gas used in this country is produced in the United States. LP may be more expensive than natural gas, but it's about twice as energy efficient per cubic foot. It's delivered to the tank on my property by a friendly guy who checks our supply on a regular schedule and fills the tank before it's empty."

Kallner purchased a propane stove, including a new range hood. She writes, "This [hood] has a greater intake area than our old hood to increase the air exchange. . . . We should be able to cook a batch of pancakes in half the time. And I can light those burners with a match when the power is out."

Questions arise about whether chemicals played a role in oil tank deaths

Petroleum poisoning in oil fields is a growing concern that has led to several deaths and left many medical professionals baffled or unwilling to place the blame on chemicals, Mike Soraghan reports for Environment and Energy Publishing. (Soraghan photo: Marathon's Buffalo 34-12H well pad near Killdeer, N.D.)

Robert Harrison, an occupational medicine specialist at the University of California, San Francisco, Medical Center who has investigated fatal chemical exposures in the workplace, "said authorities such as coroners and medical examiners may be missing the signs of petroleum poisoning in oil field death cases," Soraghan writes. Harrison told him, "That's certainly something we should be checking into further and doing additional investigations on whenever deaths occur suspiciously like this in the oil fields. And I'd say dying alone in the middle of the night in North Dakota is a pretty unusual circumstance."

In a sworn statement to the attorney of the family of a worker who died of "hydrocarbon poisoning due to inhalation of petroleum vapors," environmental engineer Fred Bremseth said, "With that excessive gas, you get lightheaded. It would be just like carbon monoxide. You're gonna doze off, and Katy bar the doors, man—you're dead."

Confusion and a "look-the-other-way" attitude have hampered investigations, Soraghan writes. Trent Vigus's death certificate states his cause of death as "hypertensive and atherosclerotic heart disease"—hardening of the arteries, Soraghan writes. "Essentially, it says he died of hardening of the arteries and a sudden cardiac 'event' from an undiagnosed heart condition. But some of the postmortem results contradict that and suggest Vigus' exposure to chemicals may have contributed to his death."

"Laboratory tests turned up small amounts of propane and butane in Vigus' blood. Both these chemicals are found in Bakken crude," Soraghan writes. The pathologist who did the autopsy, Thomas Bennett, "wrote only that the toxicology test found caffeine and nicotine, ignoring the propane and butane results. Bennett wrote that Vigus died from a 'sudden cardiac event, most probably due to his underlying enlarged heart from hypertensive cardiovascular disease.'"

"But Bennett didn't find any hardening of the arteries in Vigus' 30-year-old body," Soraghan writes. "He wrote in his description of the heart that there were 'no gross atheromatous narrowings' of the arteries. That would usually mean there is no atherosclerotic heart disease."

Another instance involved a Marathon health, environment and safety specialist, who said when he was interviewed, the only question he was asked was "Can you keep your mouth shut?" Soraghan writes. "The problem turned out to be not what he said, but what he wrote," according to the attorney for the family of Dustin Bergsing, whose autopsy said he died of "hydrocarbon poisoning due to inhalation of petroleum vapors."

"Marathon managers were upset that he put his questions and concerns in writing in emails," Soraghan writes. "Unlike a spoken conversation, those could turn up as exhibits in a lawsuit." The employee was fired not long after Bergsing's death. (Read more)

Quick hits: Midwest has propane shortage, rural New York town finally repeals Prohibition laws, lots more . . .

Map locates two newly "wet" counties

Here's a roundup of stories with rural resonance; if you do or see similar work that should be shared on The Rural Blog, email us at heather.chapman@uky.edu.

Nearly 86 years after the end of Prohibition, a New York town voted Tuesday to overturn its Prohibition-era ban on alcohol sales, and the last two "dry" counties in New Mexico (which had "wet" towns) did likewise. Dry jurisdictions all over the country are increasingly voting this way as moral objections to alcohol use have decreased in recent years, perhaps in comparison to abuse of other controlled substances; also, small towns want to be more tourist-friendly. Read more here.

A late harvest, wet grain, and chilly weather are driving a propane shortage in the rural Midwest. Read more here.

How struggling Appalachian towns in coal country were sold on the promise of private prisons. Read more here.

Freddie Mac recently held a symposium on current trends and the future of rural housing. Read more here.

How does the public's perception of rural America match up with its reality? Read more here.

After Midwest flooding, hazards remain

Residents in Hamburg, Iowa, piled up ruined belongings and housing materials. (Photo: Des Moines Register, Brian Powers)

Record flooding has wreaked havoc in the Midwest this spring, but even where waters have receded, dangers remain. In addition to debris and infrastructure damage, "floodwaters overwhelmed private wells, sewage lagoons and public water systems, soaked over a million bushels of corn and soybeans, and picked up propane, anhydrous ammonia and fertilizer tanks," Donnelle Eller reports for The Associated Press. That has left "orphaned containers filled with industrial chemicals, pesticides, diesel fuel, oil and other potentially hazardous materials."

Local, state and federal officials are working together on the massive clean-up effort. Farmers, elevators and businesses have been ordered to destroy grain contaminated by river water, and state air-quality laws have been lifted to allow residents to burn crops, debris and damaged household items, Eller reports.

Officials are concerned about the raw sewage that many cities pumped into rivers for weeks after the floods hit. Mike Crecelius, the emergency management director in Iowa's Fremont County, is warning people not to go into the Missouri River without protection. "There are a number of municipalities north of us dumping raw sewage into the water. There are orphan tanks floating around, with valves coming off, losing pesticides, insecticides, acids and fertilizers," he told Eller. "You don’t know what’s in the water."

Though the volume of the floodwaters diluted some of the chemicals, environmental specialists also worry about the potential damage to fish and plants in the rivers, and the impact that could have on the larger ecosystem, including the people who eat the fish and get drinking water from the rivers, Eller reports.

Rural residents in off-the-grid underdeveloped mountain range ordered to correct home violations

Nine residents in Old West Ranch—north of Los Angeles—living in non-permitted RVs, travel trailers and other structures that do not meet county standards have been told to "correct multiple violations of the Kern County Ordinance Code—or face the consequences," Steven Mayer reports for The Bakersfield Californian. (Best Places map: Old West Ranch is located just outside Tehachapi, Calif.)

Disabled musician Bert Bockover and his wife April, who have owned their 5-acre parcel near Tehachapi for some 20 years, say conforming to code could leave them destitute or homeless, Mayer writes. They have "no plumbing, no natural gas, and what electricity they use is generated by a modest solar array and a propane-powered refrigerator. They pay a monthly service for their plastic, portable outhouse. And they have a 2,500-gallon water tank donated by Grammy-based MusiCares, a nonprofit that provides assistance for music people in times of need."

For neighbors, who say the playing field is not level among residents who pay taxes and those who don't, the move is long overdue, Mayer writes. Robert and Donna Moran have "paid taxes to support local schools and fire protection. They paid fees to support maintenance of the roads on the ranch, which are private and not maintained by the county. And they paid the fees for permits to legally build on and develop their property." They are among at least five property owners to complain about neighbors, saying property values are being hurt and that the number of squatters and drug users has increased.

"The county’s code enforcement operates exclusively on complaint-generated cases, said Code Compliance Division Supervisor Al Rojas," Mayer writes. "First a letter goes out to the residents alleging that a violation exists on property for which they are the owner or responsible party. If the party does not respond or the violation is not corrected, the division inspects the propety and provides the resident with a 30-day notice to “abate” the violations." (Californian photo by Felix Adamo: The Bockovers)

In order to come into compliance, "the Bockovers have to either remove everything from the land and sell, an option they say would leave them homeless and eventually pennyless" or "establish a permitted structure on the property, drill a working water well and set up a sewage system," Mayer writes. So far they have broken apart and hauled off two travel trailers and removed three cars, earning them a deadline extension. Also, Self-Help Enterprises, a nonprofit housing and community development organization "is currently assessing the Bockovers’ eligibility for assistance. And if they are, in fact, deemed eligible, help could be on the way for a new manufactured home and financing for the drilling of a water well." (Read more)

Burning wood to produce electricity may be costly, but small-scale rural applications possible

Avista Corp.’s Kettle Falls, Wash., wood-burning generating station produces enough energy to power 40,000 homes. Instead of being a shining example of the application of biomass energy it has become a key example of the problems with the fuel.

"Located in the timber belt of the Selkirk Mountains, the plant has trouble getting wood fiber at prices that produce affordable electricity," Becky Kramer of The Spokesman-Review in Spokane reports. When the cost climbs too high, the plant shuts down and can be idled for weeks at a time.

"The Western U.S. is biomass rich … but it’s still about fuel. Can you get it in reasonable quantities and affordable costs? That hasn’t been solved yet," David Naccarato of McKinstry Co., a Seattle-based firm that works on biomass projects, told Kramer. Wood-burning power plants offer the attraction of being considered a "carbon-neutral" energy source, because as trees grow they absorb the carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere by burning them.
"Rural schools, hospitals and prisons have cut their utility bills by installing wood-burning boilers. The boilers heat buildings with steam," Kramer writes. "They’re particularly effective when they replace high-cost propane or oil furnaces." McKinstry, based in Seattle, has enjoyed success on a smaller-scale than the Avista plant. "You need adequate safeguards so you’re protecting the ecological process," Mike Petersen, the director of the Lands Council of Spokane, told Kramer. "But I think in these rural communities, something on a small scale is possible." (Read more)

Crop-insurance deadline delayed as harvest problems and farmers' struggles continue; land prices go negative

As U.S. farmers conclude a difficult crop year, the outlook remains troubling. The downturn in agriculture echoes the one that led to the 1980s farm crisis, Farm Credit Administration Chairman Glen Smith told the House Agriculture Committee on Tuesday. The FCA regulates farm lenders.

Smith said the farm-lending system is "safe and sound" but officials are "very concerned and closely monitoring some weakening in credit quality." At a subcommittee meeting, he also compared the current economic climate to that of the early '80s, "citing economic trends like falling farm income, rising debt-to-asset ratios and concerns about the value of farmland," Ryan McCrimmon reports for Politico's Morning Agriculture. "Farmland values remain largely stable across the country. But that could change, Smith warned in his written remarks to the committee, if larger amounts of farmland go up for sale — like if farm bankruptcy rates continue ticking upward." Smith also noted the role of trade wars in agricultural instability in the late '70s and early '80s.

Meanwhile, abnormally wet weather continues to slow harvests, making it likely that some crops won't be harvested this year at all. "Instead, a good deal of corn in Northern states will likely have to wait until the spring of 2020 to be harvested, while soybeans left over winter might not be harvested at all," Ray Grabanski reports for Successful Farming. "That is going to lead to harvest losses much greater than factored so far into USDA numbers" estimating production.

Within the next two weeks, the corn harvest will be about 76 percent complete and soybeans 91% complete. It's not likely to go much higher, Grabanski writes: "Most of the corn not harvested never made maturity, and therefore is still very wet (25% to 35% moisture) and it is not economical to harvest now (and no propane is available to dry it)." And very wet soil, or snow, will block soybean harvests. But, Grabanski notes, China is buying more soybeans, so commodity prices could go up quickly if the trade war ends.

Almost three-quarters of the rural bankers surveyed for Creighton University's Rural Mainstreet Index reported negative economic impacts from the trade war. The RMI is a monthly survey of bank CEOs in rural areas of a 10-state region where agriculture and energy are essential to the economy: Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming.

The overall index has been barely above growth-neutral for three of the past four months, buoyed by higher grain prices and trade bailout payments, writes Ernie Goss, the Creighton economist who compiles the report. However, prices for land continued to slide. "The confidence index, which reflects bank CEO expectations for the economy six months out, slumped to 36.5 from September’s 42.9, and continues to indicate a very negative economic outlook among bankers," Goss reports. This is because of the trade war with China and uncertainty about when or if the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, replacing the North American Free Trade Agreement, will pass.

One banker complained to Goss that it was hard to make predictions because this year's planting and harvesting data isn't known -- or, if known by the Agriculture Department, isn't being made public.

Because of the delayed harvest, USDA is granting most farmers a second extension on crop insurance premium due dates, Dan Looker reports for Successful Farming. Normally, payments on spring-planted crops are due Sept. 30 and begin to accrue interest Oct. 1. USDA announced in August that it would defer interest until after Nov. 30; now it says farmers have until Jan. 31 to make interest-free payments on crops planted last spring. But if their payments are even a day late after Jan. 31, they'll be charged the retroactive interest that would have accrued since the original due date of Oct. 1.

Air pollution added to list of complaints against natural gas drilling

Most of the focus regarding potential pollution problems resulting from natural gas drilling in shale formations has been focused on water, but fears of pervasive air pollution from Barnett Shale operations in Texas are affecting the industry as well. While the natural gas industry has been marketing itself as a cleaner alternative to coal, that description is being "shoved aside by critics who say addressing public health issues tied to gas production is no longer optional," Joel Kirkland of Environment & Energy Daily reports. "They want gas drillers to face the same scrutiny for their air emissions as 'major' emitters such as gas processing plants or oil refineries."

"Just because coal mining is worse, or that coal burns dirtier than gas, doesn't make this all safe," Tim Ruggiero, who houses a Aruba Petroleum Inc. well on his horse farm outside of Fort Worth, told Kirkland. "It burns clean compared to other fossil fuels. OK, I give you that. But if you look at the process by which they obtain the gas, I'm not so sure that all told, beginning to end, it's any cleaner than coal." In recent months the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has increased its monitoring of pollution sources operating in the Barnett, Kirkland writes, but critics say that move came only in response to mounting public pressure to do so.

Even amid the national conversation about greenhouse gas emissions, some locals' air pollution fears are on a much more basic level. "They ask, 'Do you believe in the greenhouse, Tim, do you believe in global warming?'" Ruggiero told Kirkland. "I go, 'You know what, when you've got this thing blowing in your backyard, and you can stand on your front porch and smell propane, global warming isn't the first thing that comes to mind.'"

Al Armendariz, the Environmental Protection Agency's top regional official based in Dallas, projected in a 2009 study that summer "emissions of nitrogen oxide and cancer-causing volatile organic compounds from gas sources in the Barnett Shale would exceed emissions from cars and trucks in the Dallas-Fort Worth area," Kirkland writes. The political environment over the saftey of hydraulic fracturing operations has also thrown the future of Barnett Shale operations into doubt. "Right now they [gas companies] like that they have a geologic formation where they can make a profit. They like the fact they have a stable political environment," Republican Rep. Michael Burgess told Burgess. "But if they damage it because of their own actions, they have nobody to blame but themselves." (Read more, suscription required)