Even Before Long Winter Begins, Energy Bills Send Shivers in New England

New York Times ^ | DEC. 13, 2014 | KATHARINE Q. SEELYE

[OddLane]

SALEM, N.H. — John York, who owns a small printing business here, nearly fell out of his chair the other day when he opened his electric bill.

For October, he had paid $376. For November, with virtually no change in his volume of work and without having turned up the thermostat in his two-room shop, his bill came to $788, a staggering increase of 110 percent. “This is insane,” he said, shaking his head. “We can’t go on like this.”

For months, utility companies across New England have been warning customers to expect sharp price increases, for which the companies blame the continuing shortage of pipeline capacity to bring natural gas to the region.

[sopwith]

I knew I was responding to a brick wall. nuff said.

[woodbutcher1963]

I was the same way with the free wood when we lived in the last house and had the Jotul stove. We have a ice storm or heavy wet snow storm it seems every few years. This results typically in free wood laying on every roadside in the area.
I took two pickup truck loads to the town dump just yesterday. That was just to clean up the trees that broke on my property.
I cut the bigger stuff up and stacked it on the woodpile.
Of course, now we just have one masonry fireplace. So the cord of wood outside will probably last ten years.

There is always free wood around here if you are just willing to do the work to go get it. However, I have had a Stihl 026 and a pickup truck for 25 years. It is a little more difficult if you have a hand saw and a Prius.

[Omniscient Certitude]

If you had an intelligent thought perhaps I might be interested.

[familyop]

Read about both Step 1 and Step 2. Includes pellet stoves, wood stoves, fireplace inserts, indoor and outdoor wood boilers or hydronic heaters, forced-air furnaces and masonry heaters. The really ugly part of the rule happens in five years. Local governments will be outlawing existing wood heaters.

Residential Wood Heaters New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) Proposal – General Overview
http://www2.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2014-02/documents/proposed-nsps-overviewslides20140218.pdf

That’s not environmentalism. It’s bipartisan crony capitalism, more traditionally known as public corruption operated by connected business interests.

[familyop]

I'm surrounded by NIMBYs from New Jersey and New York in a very sparsely populated Republican county on the Rockies. The county is regulated much like New York and New Jersey. NIMBYs come in two socialist flavors: Democrat and Republican. They're animal worshipers and environmentalists for the purpose of using local government to rob their neighbors and violate their neighbors' property rights. And the NIMBYs do it with their stated cause of keeping their own property values up.

I reckon that scene looks familiar in the northeast to those who aren't NIMBYs. NIMBYs themselves won't admit it and will continue to spread false rumors through dishonest implications about their neighbors, oppose small house development and energy development from both political parties for the views, the animals, the property values and their desire to keep harding working Americans down (e.g., owner-builders).

And most proud, shiny, rural NIMBYs, by the way, get their incomes directly or indirectly from the various levels of fat government. The problem will be solved by the default process, layoffs and pension cuts.

[Texicanus]

In Texas you’ve got to have a pickup truck and a chain saw.

Out here on “Agony Acres” I have had only 2 pickups since 1979. The former, a 1979 Silverado I bought new and parked in the front yard and the latter, a 1995 Silverado which I bought new and still use. I really hate depreciation so I keep my vehicles an extra long time. I’ll get back to the 1979 just as soon as the 1995 peters out. Wifey won’t ride in the 1995 any more due to some imagined image issues with the neighbors.

I have 4 gas chain saws, 2 electric chain saws and 3 generators of which I manage to keep at least 2 working at any given time. I prefer the electrics because they almost always startup when needed. Gas chain saws not so much.

I usually find or cut enough wood during the warmer months to tide me over during the winter with some left over. I’m retired, so it keeps me busy and out of wifey’s way fixing pickups, chain saws, and finding and cutting wood when I’m not on the Free Republic.

BTW, I’m going to buy me a new F250 pickup just as soon as gas well production is up and my royalty checks come in. Glad I kept those mineral rights. /SARC

[Texicanus]

Yes, I knew this was in the works. There’s more at stake here than just burning wood. Texas may have to tell the federales and the EPA to shove it. Federal agents may not be welcomed here with open arms. Remember others have tried to “Come and Take it”. Let us hope some things change after Obama and his administration of liberals are gone. Maybe we can get back to the US Constitution and states rights stuff and try to resolve some of these issues for the benefit of all parties.

[Eva]

No one has a coal furnace in their home

[PAR35]

Not my concern if they don’t want to burn a little coal to stay affordably warm in the winter. Perhaps they are two lazy to keep it stoked and the ashes cleaned.

Tractor Supply has several models from which to choose, starting at about $800.

http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/store/united-states-stove-wonderluxe-wood-coal-stove

Heat a standard suburban home about $1400

http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/store/united-states-stove-hot-blast-warm-air-furnace-2500-sq-ft

Or a 3000 sq ft home or business for under $2400.

http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/store/united-states-stove-multifuel-furnace

[bert]

I would suggest that American coal companies cut off all sales to Neo Europa

Let the yankees feeeze in the dark

[Omniscient Certitude]

Over my dead body will they take away my wood burning all nighter.

[snoringbear]

“You are lucky. In Texas, because of the ground, you can bury pipes.”

Well, I suppose that’s correct for a good part of Texas. However, some areas not so. Examples; the Permian Basin which covers an area larger than New England sits on a coral sea bed. Coral is very hard and abrasive. Eats up metal in no time. And then there’s the Trans Pecos and Big Bend regions, pure rock. And then there’s far west Texas, very mountainous, tallest mountain in Texas is Guadalupe Peak at about 9,800 ft. So, we have our issues with laying pipe here as well. God Bless Texas...

[VeniVidiVici]

now forces NH to have the highest power costs in USA

Other states have higher electric costs. Other states also have nuke plants with lower rates than NH. Seabrook was held-up for years by your liberal buds whining about the environment. One huge reason for its high cost.

[Omniscient Certitude]

You have not the knowledge of what really occurred. Read what I wrote in previous coments and educate yourself. BTW, I am more conservative than most on this forum except I understand Sununu is misplaced barnyard livestock, eating at the trough of crony GOP capitalism. The result is Seabrook. Again, if you factor in the actual price homeowners pay for electric service, not just the kWh cost, we do have the highest costs in US.

[Patriotic1]

Brand suggestions?

[VeniVidiVici]

I dunno what more you can factor into the total bill besides the customer charge, kwh charge and taxes. Is there some mythical NH surcharge that puts your state over the top?

[VeniVidiVici]

btw, Hawaii has a $.38kwh charge. Be tough to top that.

[C19fan]

If you read the article Willard when he was Gov for Mass was all for this NE Compact to fight “global warming”. I held my nose to vote for the clown in 2012 but I am not voting for him again evah. These policies are a war on the middle class. The same result of sky rocketing energy prices has happened in Germany where they have pushed “green” power for at least a decade. The same is occurring in CA. We need to fight to prevent this crap from breaking out of NE and east of the Sierras. With all of Zeros EPA regulation, the head of the EPA held the equivalent position in Mass under Willard, we will be hit in the wallet. Was the NY Times writer shocked with these energy prices increases when they are the predictable result of the policies the NY Times pushes?

[SamAdams76]

So how's that global warming working out for everybody!

As a lifelong New Englander, I've learned to deal with the cold. Sweaters are great. So are wood-burning stoves. If you have a wood-burning fireplace, buy an insert that will blow the heat into the room. There's really no sense in heating your entire house with oil or gas (or electric). Just zone off your living/family room and heat that only. In the bedrooms, have extra quilts and blankets. No reason to have bedrooms over 60 degrees.

Also, here's another tip. Go barefoot in your house. That might not make sense but when you have bare feet most of the time, your body starts heating itself and suddenly having it 60 in the house doesn't feel so bad. Over time, your feet will simply not get cold anymore, even if you go outdoors for short spells.

[woodbutcher1963]

I am on my fourth pickup truck since the 1980’s. One GMC, three Toyota Tacomas. The last one I just bought two years ago. The previous three I put over 100K miles and were at least ten years old when I sold them.

How did you end up with six chainsaws? I have two. One was left by the previous owner of the our current house. I would actually like to have one of those top handle arborist saws.

I have accumulated too many machines in my 51 years:
Stihl leaf blower
Honda 20” snow blower
Simpicity 28” snow blower (1977 model bought for $300)
Echo curved shaft string trimmer
Stihl straight shaft brush trimmer
Troybuilt sickle bar trimmer(bought at yard sale for $50)
John Deere lawn tractor with 42” deck
Stihl 026 chainsaw
Poluan chainsaw(left by previous homeowner)
Honda EV700 generator
DR wood chipper(another yard sale/moving sale buy)

This does not include the woodworking shop in the basement.

I had three snow blowers and a Echo gas hedge trimmer. I sold these machines to the guy who bought my last house 2 years ago. That house had over 50 bushes. I also had a 1989 Ariens self propelled lawn mower. I did not need that anymore with the current house. I put it at the end of the driveway with a FREE sign one day this fall. It was gone in less than an hour. I used it at the old house just to mow a small area inside the pool fence. No pool on this property thank God.

Do you have places around there that sell gasoline without ethanol? The only places around here are marinas 40 miles north of here. It really causes problems with carbs and cold weather. I have gotten so I run everything dry if I am not going to be using it in the next few days. Everything except the John Deere tractor and the two snow blowers. With those I add Startron(the blue stuff) fuel treatment religiously.

My next machine will probably be a Kubota or John Deere 25-30HP 4WD tractor. They are $12-15K used around here. Brand new $30K. This property has 12 acres. I also have a steep paved driveway. I use a bag of rock salt with every storm. I need something I can put a brush hog on. I also need a York rake or scraper blade to maintain about 400’ of gravel driveway. That is in addition to the main paved driveway up to the house.

I had a logging crew in last fall that selectively cut about 8 of the 12 acres. They put in another driveway and took out 5 truck loads logs and 4 chip vans. They were cutting for 5 or 6 days with a Timberjack. They cleaned up 99% of the tops, but there are still braches scattered all around the woods. They also left me a couple nice skidder roads around the back of the property. The problem is there are still quite a few boulders around that a skidder could clear but not my Toyota. They don’t call it the granite state for nothing.

I had a guy with an excavator come in this spring to correct a drainage problem from an intermittent stream. I had to divert that away from the leach field and the back yard. He piled up a lot of the brush and smoothed out one of the skidder roads. However, since I was paying him by the machine hour. There was only so much I could afford for him to do.