Local News: 1/15/2001

Propane price also up

By Mike Wilson The Hawk Eye

Natural gas customers are not the only ones feeling the pain of increasing costs.

Propane customers also are digging deeper into their pockets to pay to heat their homes this winter.

Larry and Beverly Stoermer, Danville, said as propane users, they are being hit as hard by rate increases as natural gas customers.

"It's just like everyone else," Larry Stoermer said. "The costs go up but your wages don't go up in comparison."

The Stoermer's say they have baseboard hot water heat in the their home and run their thermostat at 68 degrees.

"I've insulated to the hilt," Stoermer said. "I've covered every crack that could be filled."

He said the last time he had his LP tank filled, it cost him $1.47 gallon.

"We're paying a bunch more for the stuff this year than we did last year," said Stoermer's wife Beverly.

Dave Ford, of LP Bi-State Gas Company, Burlington, said the Stoermer's are not alone in seeing the propane costs go through the ceiling.

"The wholesale market is up and we have to raise our prices accordingly," Ford said. "It's double what it was a year ago. People are talking about natural gas being up 50 percent, but we're up 100 percent."

Ford said there is no one reason for the hike in propane costs.

"There are a lot of opinions and which one is right, I don't know," he said.

Ford said his cost for propane Friday was $1.27, but he's heard that prices have been as high as $1.61 in Illinois.

He said prices change daily and he reviews his costs weekly and adjusts his rate to meet those costs.

"We're not making any more now than when prices are low," Ford said.

He said he encourages his customers to hold off on large volume purchases if possible to give the rates a chance to fall.

"Rates usually come down in mid to late February and if I have someone with a 1,000 gallon tank that is 40 percent full, I will advise them to hold off if possible to see if those rates fall," Ford said.

http://www.thehawkeye.com/daily/stories/ln15019.html

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), January 16, 2001