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smartest_kobold t1_itrchan wrote

The daily mail is slightly more reliable than Facebook screenshots.

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heklakatla t1_itsf8sy wrote

Our authoritative source is a British tabloid?

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yo_mama_5000 OP t1_itslezw wrote

If you understand how the media works, places like the Daily Mail will just generate articles from other sources (often local to your area). Here is a list of other sources if it bothers you:

https://www.google.com/search?q=new+england+heating+oil+shortage&rlz=1C1GIGM_enUS858US858&sxsrf=ALiCzsYsEAS6Wu2yZRgCDBvbnIluCAD9Kw:1666724806759&source=lnms&tbm=nws&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj17a3gifz6AhUUGlkFHQifCnkQ_AUoAXoECAEQAw&biw=1420&bih=920&dpr=1

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heklakatla t1_itsvmjd wrote

The article you linked from the Concord Monitor quotes the local expert as saying there aren't shortages.

From: https://www.concordmonitor.com/New-Hampshire-heating-fuel-reserves-remain-low-48550701

The state expects inventories to increase as heating season begins ramping up in December, and Ellms said the state is not concerned about shortages

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yo_mama_5000 OP t1_itt6kdb wrote

We shall see. In any case it doesn't seem that our present state is where we want to be. Which is why I suppose the Department of Energy is urging governors to get on the ball.

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heklakatla t1_ituka5e wrote

Unfortunately businesses don't typically 'get on the ball' unless there are legal regulations, financial incentives, or both.

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yo_mama_5000 OP t1_itussza wrote

>financial incentives

Well, the job of a business is to stay in business

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Truthislife13 t1_itrimsc wrote

Weren’t people trying to store gasoline in garbage bags a disaster or two ago?

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1976dave t1_itvboh3 wrote

cue always sunny music

The gang solves the gas heating oil crisis

1

movdqa t1_itrd665 wrote

Many people I know bought pellet stoves years ago to supplement other heating systems and it's worked out well.

2

FreezingRobot t1_ituuwsr wrote

I have a pellet stove and it works great. We can swap back and forth (propane is our other heat) depending on the year's prices.

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vexingsilence t1_itrg3xm wrote

How exactly would people hoard heating oil? The tanks are almost 300 gallons. They going to fill their basements with 5 gallon jugs?

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yo_mama_5000 OP t1_itrgdac wrote

Actually, people might do this. But I think the fear is more about the distributors taking too much? Not sure.

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vexingsilence t1_itrhcm8 wrote

The logistics of it don't make much sense. You can't just go and pump some heating oil, it has to be delivered. So they'd siphon their own tank? Or add another tank? You could use plastic jugs and fill them at the gas station with diesel, but that'd be a fairly grueling exercise for the amount you'd need to heat a home, and it'd likely be more expensive that way since you'd be paying tax on it.

Could be the distributors.. but why would they want to over order when prices are high? It's only a win if they have a lot of excess oil and no one is able to get more. But that'd be begging for the state to go after them for price gouging during an emergency/disaster situation. Worst case, prices drop and they can't sell the excess for anywhere near what they paid.

Seems dumb either way.

−2

Kv603 t1_itsm1ic wrote

> You could use plastic jugs and fill them at the gas station with diesel, but that'd be a fairly grueling exercise for the amount you'd need to heat a home, and it'd likely be more expensive that way since you'd be paying tax on it.

The good news is, there are forms you can fill out to get a full refund of the federal and state "road tax" for road diesel fuel used for non-road purposes -- comes out to 46.5¢/gallon in rebates in NH.

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[deleted] t1_itvnict wrote

I've never done this, but some of the heating oil dealers do have pumps out front and sell it as "off road diesel", with no tax charged.

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Kv603 t1_itvzuwj wrote

> heating oil dealers do have pumps out front and sell it as "off road diesel",

I assume they sell their ORD at the same price as they'd charge to deliver heating oil, looks like $5.40/gallon in S.NH today.

Sites like Gasbuddy do pretty good at keeping their gasoline prices updated, but are often way off on diesel fuel prices. Actual prices today for fully-taxed road diesel start at $5.39/gallon, though you can do better with memberships (e.g. BJs in Nashua is $5.10 for members) and gas cards.

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yo_mama_5000 OP t1_itrhzxt wrote

I'd be major bullshitting if I could say how the distributors will behave. I know I do have 800 gallons contracted at $4/gal so maybe my distributor would want to make sure they can meet their contracted demand? I'm sure there's also just that panicky feeling for them to fill their storage tanks so the meet as much customer need as they can and retain customers in the future.

But as for individuals. I remember videos of people filling up trash bags with gasoline during the last price spike. So there's that. :)

0

vexingsilence t1_itriaj8 wrote

There was a great video of a guy that lined his pickup truck bed with plastic and then just filled it with gas. No cover or anything. Lost half of it just pulling out of the gas station.

People are amazing.

1

Constant-Dot5760 t1_itrsru8 wrote

You could use plastic jugs and fill them at the gas station with diesel, but that'd be a fairly grueling exercise for the amount you'd need to heat a home, and it'd likely be more expensive that way since you'd be paying tax on it.

I'm just now taking a peek at this. Gasbuddy.com for Nashua diesel shows me $4.39 and NewEnglandOil.com shows me heating oil at $5.59.

Is the $1.20 arbitrage done 5 gallons at a time worth it? I cancelled my keep-full service and will buy 100 gallons at a time. That means I'd spend $120 more but eliminate 20 trips. Eff it. I'm too lazy.

0

vexingsilence t1_itrtdg2 wrote

Might be worth doing if someone can't get a delivery. Set the thermostat to the bare minimum to keep the pipes from freezing.

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Constant-Dot5760 t1_itugqri wrote

Truth! I did exactly that when I moved into my house and couldn't pay for 100 gallons for a couple of weeks. Never thought about those circumstances.

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Kv603 t1_itw0ql1 wrote

I've done it when I was running low. I use the same 5 gallon yellow cans as I use to fuel my lawn tractor.

My daily HHO usage varies from about 2 gallons in November to over 5 gallons a day during a frigid nor'easter. Using the woodstove can cut that by half.

On an unrelated note, prices of cordwood and pellets are also climbing beyond last year's high.

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redeggplant01 t1_itrtq4x wrote

Rationing is a red flag that your government is too involved in the industry being rationed, like we saw and continue to see in communist nations

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WhoWhatWhereWhenHowY t1_itsktij wrote

The rationing is by wholesalers and not the government.

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redeggplant01 t1_ittzl5z wrote

Your denial of reality and history is humorous

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WhoWhatWhereWhenHowY t1_itu3m2f wrote

Unless someone is providing evidence that the government is requiring them to ration it's pure speculation.

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redeggplant01 t1_itu3xkm wrote

The existence of the illegal dept of energy and its anti- fossil fuel policies and the state governments constant prohibition on improved supply projects disproves your opinion

−2

mmirate t1_itst5g4 wrote

If the wholesalers weren't bound by certain government regulations, there would be price increases instead of rationing, that way demand would decrease, equilibrium would be attained, etc etc.

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WhoWhatWhereWhenHowY t1_itsv2rm wrote

Are there regulations preventing price increases? I haven't seen any of that.

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mmirate t1_itthtki wrote

There is no other possible motivation for them to ration instead of increasing their prices.

0

UnfairAd7220 t1_itrqtlc wrote

Been coming for 10 years.
Cuomo prevents pipelines crossing NY state. Democrats shut down near the whole fleet of nuke plants across the region.
Shutter all but one coal plant.

Joke Xiden throttles gas and oil capital investment. 2 refineries shut down. Whiting IN blows up. Heating oil and diesel supplies get punished.

If its $5/gal now, I can't wait to see what happens if we get a cold winter. $10? $15?

People on fixed income are basically fucked.

Whatever you do, keep voting blue! /s

−7

Federal-Cockroach-62 t1_itru6v2 wrote

Is t anyone discussing the piss poor management by our federal government and the people who voted down the northern pass a few years ago? Little short sighted…..

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smartest_kobold t1_itrxyxb wrote

Was the Northern Pass secretly an oil pipeline and everybody kept it quiet?

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Federal-Cockroach-62 t1_ittae3q wrote

Was it not energy? Are your electricity bills going down as well

−7

overdoing_it t1_itue5kj wrote

If part of the deal was dissolving eversource and putting a public utility in place that doesn't have investors to please I might just support it.

1