Propane prices locally are nuts. The are monopolized in a captive market. Go 40-50 miles north and Cenex propane is a buck cheaper. Are those Seattle prices for electric? PSE electric is up to $.11 now. A cord of doug fir is $300 locally.
Ever wonder how Firewoods compared to Propane and Oil heat?
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Propane prices locally are nuts. The are monopolized in a captive market. Go 40-50 miles north and Cenex propane is a buck cheaper. Are those Seattle prices for electric? PSE electric is up to $.11 now. A cord of doug fir is $300 locally.
The base fuel prices are cheap the gotchya is all the add on expenses- meters rental. transportation , deadbeat( ya we get charged a percentage for those who don't pay their bills) and of course the fuel adjustment charge ( thats so they can charge a higher price even if what they paid was considerable lower for the futures)
Wood1Dennis
Burning Hunk
Here is the best calculator that I have found for comparing heating cost. It is fun to play around with efficiency and fuel cost. No matter how I do it my $20 / cord estimate (saw fuel, chain, maint., etc.) for wood I cut myself off of my land always comes up cheapest 
https://ag.purdue.edu/extension/renewable-energy/Documents/ON-Farm/heatcalc.xls
Dennis
https://ag.purdue.edu/extension/renewable-energy/Documents/ON-Farm/heatcalc.xls
Dennis
HybridFyre
Burning Hunk
Yikes. I can't imagine paying $300 for doug fir. We get lucky in the northeast. Red Oak as far as the eye can see
I'm sure it is much less the farther one gets away from the cities. Urban and suburban locations pay a stiff premium. Doug fir, soft maple and alder trees grow like weeds around here so it's not a question of availability.
SnoPUD electric rates from 2-3 years ago. I updated it last week to $0.09815/kWh. They're climbing at 2-3 times the pace of inflation, despite medium term declines in basic energy prices (especially industrial natural gas). I expect we'll catch up to PSE in a few more years - oh the joys of no-bid contracts to personal friends of PUD leadership!
Propane prices came from the EIA at the time I put together the spreadsheet. I'm not surprised propane prices are out of line in Seattle. With easily available natural gas in the urban areas, the delivered propane market is probably too small to draw much competition.
I mostly see Douglas fir and maple going for $200-$250 a cord, "seasoned" for a week or two, but I haven't paid close attention since I've had no trouble scrounging wood and don't mind hauling and splitting it myself.
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fire_man
Minister of Fire
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