Rationing: Average Du Quoin propane users put on 200 gallon limit

Short supplies and higher prices make for long days for Southern Illinois' propane gas depots and their delivery drivers.

Rationing is now common all across the country. Prices are almost double what they were in late summer.

In recent weeks Southern Illinois drivers have had to traverse terrible snow and ice-covered roads to make deliveries out in the country.

It's not just in the Du Quoin-area.

Millions of residents in the Midwest who rely on propane saw temperatures drop into the single digits again Monday and Tuesday.

The price and supply problem began with the wetter-than-usual fall, which meant that Southern Illinois farmers used more propane than usual to dry corn crops. Then, there was the unusual cold that began during the holidays and the shutdown of a major pipeline for maintenance.

As a result, propane prices are setting new records. The average nationwide price of a gallon of residential propane for the week ending Jan. 20 hit $2.96, according to the Energy Information Administration, up 60 cents from mid-October, the highest price ever recorded by the agency. Prices in the Midwest are even higher; on Friday, prices ended at $4.30 a gallon in the Midwest, down from a peak of about $5 a gallon. Some prices spiked again Tuesday

Propane inventory in the Midwest stands at about two-thirds of its five-year average, and is 40 percent lower than this time last year. In Du Quoin, Ferrellgas residential customers with the average 500 gallon tanks were being limited to 200 gallons per delivery.

At the same time, cold temperatures have consumers using more propane than ever.

To move more gas across the country, many states have lifted the limits on the number of hours over-the-road truckers hauling propane can drive.

Drivers shipping propane across 24 states can stay on the road beyond the number of hours usually allowed, under emergency orders issued this month.

Under ordinary circumstances, drivers must take a mandatory rest break after 11 hours behind the wheel. Many of the emergency measures allow drivers to stay on the road for as long as 14 hours before taking a break.

The Associated Press reported that in a letter last week, Rep. Dan Benishek (R), who represents the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, urged President Obama to make more federal money available for low-income heating assistance.

Elsewhere, the cold has shuttered schools and eaten into already-stretched budgets. Stewart County, Tenn., closed its public schools for two days last week because of low propane levels. The schools will receive 2,000 gallons of fuel soon, but at a cost of $3.45 per gallon, nearly three times the $1.29 per gallon it paid before.

Throughout the country, about 6 million homes rely on propane for heat, mainly in rural communities.