Texas responds to out of state propane shortages

Dallas Business Journal:

A widespread propane emergency brought on by freezing temperatures prompted Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst to sign a special declaration that allows other states to tap into Texas’ supply.

The 14-day emergency declaration waives the licensing and rules that prohibit the sale of propane to sources outside the state. The Texas Department of Public Safety has waived restrictions on the hours that propane can be transported for truckers helping with emergency relief.

The shortage has affected 33 states from Oklahoma to Maine. An estimated 7 million homes use propane to heat their homes around the country, which makes the shortage a real health and safety emergency.

“Texas has the fuel, but motor carriers from other states could not get supplies from Texas, because they were not licensed and certified to enter our state,” Bill Van Hoy, executive director of the Texas Propane Gas Association (TPGA), said. “With these Texas leaders’ help, Northeastern, Midwestern and Southern states … can rest at ease that relief is on the way.”
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The majority of the propane will come from an underground salt cavern in Mont Belview near Houston, Van Hoy said. Propane is a byproduct of oil and gas drilling.
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While I have a propane furnace, I have not turned it on this winter.  Instead I have been using my wood burning stove and much of the wood I cut from the acreage around my house.   The drought the previous two years reeked havoc on several of my water oak trees and I am slowly turning them into fuel.

Gov. Perry's staff put the order together and Dewhurst signed it because the Governor is out of the state.  States that block access to their own energy development have hurt their citizens by denying jobs and raising the cost of getting fuel to the homes.  New York is one of the worst offenders.