Businesses conserving propane; strike still on

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Because of a statewide shortage, some small propane distributors in Maine have been forced to turn away customers who use the liquefied petroleum gas to heat their homes.

At the same time, some business operators said Tuesday they were cutting back on the amount they use, while others were being told not to worry.

The propane shortage is being caused, in part, by a strike by Canada’s largest railway, Canadian National. It began Feb. 10 and has cut severely the amount of propane entering the state from the north.

Canadian National Railway supplies an estimated 50 percent to 70 percent of the all propane provided by rail to Maine.

Mark Caldwell, who owns Etna Village Variety with his wife, Debra, said Tuesday he has had to refuse some customers. “I felt awful bad. … I sell it for fuel, and people use it for heat.”

Caldwell’s small convenience store-restaurant in western Penobscot County started selling propane in November 2005. He sells an average of 500 to 600 gallons a week during the winter.

This past weekend, Caldwell was unable to sell any to residents.

His supplier “wouldn’t deliver to me last week,” he said Tuesday. “They delivered me 300 gallons yesterday and I’m selling that, and it will be next week before I get more.

“I could take 800 [gallons] but they only gave me 300,” Caldwell said. “I’m sure I’ll be out tomorrow.”

After Monday’s delivery to Etna Variety, he called the customers he was forced to turn away to make sure they had enough propane to heat their homes.

“It’s a lot of work for some of the elderly people to bring in a tank and drag it behind their house,” he said. “It’s really sad that people have to go out and find other sources for heat.”

David Farmer, spokesman for Gov. John Baldacci, said he had heard of no reports of people who were going without heat in their homes because of the shortage.

It’s no secret that smaller propane distributors are feeling the pinch from the shortage, said Mike Shea, Webber Energy Fuels president.

“We do have some wholesale customers that rely on us for supply,” he said. “We’re giving them propane, but there are some suppliers that are not able to resupply their propane dealers.”

Approximately 26,000 Maine households use the fuel to heat their homes, according to the 2000 census. Numerous businesses use propane to cook, heat buildings and for other commercial uses.

As many as 75 Canadian rail cars, carrying up to 30,000 gallons each, have arrived or are scheduled to arrive soon in Maine to alleviate the shortage. The rail cars are being moved into Maine by a short-line partner of Canadian National, according to information from U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe’s office.

“The additional shipments certainly will help to ease potential shortages throughout the state, but we won’t be completely out of the woods until the supply of propane is fully resumed over the course of the next three weeks,” Snowe said in a news release.

Even with distributors curtailing fill-ups by providing only partial deliveries, Mainers still are consuming 300,000 to 400,000 gallons daily, industry officials have said.

A sea tanker that can carry 16 million gallons is expected Thursday or Friday in Providence, R.I., and another is due at Newington, N.H., on March 2.

Even with the expected incoming supplies, the owner-operators of Friars’ Bakehouse, 21 Central St. in downtown Bangor, said Tuesday they have reduced their propane use.

Brother Donald, the shop’s baker, said propane is used to operate the ovens, which can bake 48 loaves at one time for a total of 150 loaves daily.

Instead of heating up the ovens an hour ahead of time, “now I’m much more careful and I’ll wait until 15 minutes beforehand,” he said. “I’m just trying to conserve and be really careful. The minute the last loaf is out, the oven is turned off.”

The bakery has one commercial tank that is filled monthly, and co-owner Brother Kenneth said their distributor has not indicated whether the next delivery would be an issue.

A neighboring business, Bagel Central, 33 Central St. in Bangor, also uses propane for cooking, but owner Sonya Eldridge said her philosophy has always been to use as little fuel as possible.

Propane Inc., a Bangor distributor, is not having any problems with supply, Alberta Surdick, general manager, said Tuesday.

“We’re being told right now that we don’t have to worry about it,” she said. “They [the supplier] do not rely on Canadian [National] rail; the one that’s on strike. They rely on the [truck] tankers.”

The shortage is not affecting operations for Schwan’s, a food delivery service, though all of its trucks run on propane, said John Dixon, route sales supervisor for Schwan’s Sales Enterprises Inc. in Bangor.

“We have a big giant holding tank and it holds a month worth of fuel,” he said.

Ron Bolduc, an official with Schwan’s of New England, based in Springvale, said most of the company’s food distribution centers have large propane holding tanks. Bangor’s holds 18,000 gallons.

“We’re still getting it, but the prices are extremely high,” he said.

The company switched to propane-fueled trucks in the 1970s during the gasoline shortage.

Caldwell also said propane prices are rising.

“Last week, it was only a penny more than I paid a year ago,” he said. “[Now] it’s 12 or 13 cents more per gallon.”

Jamie Py, president of the Maine Oil Dealers Association, said it was inevitable that prices would rise with the shortage. He added that once the strike ends, an end to the propane shortage will not immediately follow.

“It’s a long process … to get things moving the way they should be,” he said.

The governor’s office estimates it will “take at least two or three weeks for supplies to reach normal levels” after the Canadian National strike ends.

Residents experiencing a shortage of heating fuel, whether propane, oil or wood, should contact their town office for help from its General Assistance program. If that office is closed, the next call should be to their county emergency management agency. For Penobscot County call 945-4750.