Letter to the Editor
Fuel costs
Published Tuesday, March 4, 2008
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To the editor:
I about fell over when we got our last fuel bill. Over $900 for the month. Ouch! I am beginning to wonder how anyone will be able to live here if fuel prices keep rising.
Here is my proposal. Use the natural gas they are talking about to fuel a new state of the art electric power plant situated outside of our area (to keep the ice fog down) and keep the electric prices low enough that we can heat with electricity. It is the most comfortable heat, quick to recover, and every house is already hooked up, no new lines to bury.
With no houses burning oil, the ice fog should be nil. It seems it would be difficult to bring natural gas to our houses, but not electricity.
Community Discussion
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There is an abundant supply of coal in Healy that can be used for power. GVEA and the other ultility companies need to get thier acts together and get the power plant there up and running now.
Until more people start getting vocal with there complaints, nothing is going to happen. All the liberal are to be congratulated for the love of blocking any further oil exploration, not allowing new refineries to be built, and creating more taxes on the oil companies, which just pass them on to us. BURN Wood
Anybody remember RAMPART ? Can anyone explane why the power companys are burning oil and not coal??? Where are the REAL reporters?
Wood sure works nice, but there are few people in this area that are not too lazy to go out and get a load.
I use my boiler at night when the wood stove dies out and it keeps the house toasty. It also saves on my garbage runs - because I burn anything that is burnable...even though the borough says not to : )
We do need to be more vocal if anything is going to change. Anchorage is not feeling the pinch as they have the cheapest natural gas in the nation and electric rates are half what GVEA customers are paying. Go to www.fairbanksgas.com for a comparison of Alaska energy costs.
We do need a cheaper source of power, but the existing power grid is not capable of providing area wide electric heat. Doyon shareholders need to be asking why the Nenana gas basis is not being developed. A large gas turbine could be build in Nenana to supply lower cost electricity to the entire railbelt. A small pipeline could be built along the inter-tie to Fairbanks in a matter of months not years.
My wife and I have spent the last two summers working on the house - re-insulating, installing high E windows and doors, caulking and painting. Our house used to burn 200+ gallons a month - this winter we only burned 350 gallons from August 15th to March 1st. I wasn't very happy skipping my fishing and hunting, but it sure paid off.
Glacierwolf has the right idea. If you are paying $900 a month for fuel (~300 gallons), then your house is either VERY large, or poorly insulated. Take $600 of that $900, save it for several months, and insulate your house well. It will pay off.
Sherry29: It amazes me how happy you are about poisoning the air that the rest of the people in the borough have to breathe. I am a very conservative republican, and I am all for less government control, and personal freedoms, but when some one has wanton disregard for others by happily burning "anything that is burnable" when they know that they are releasing significant toxins into the air (this is why the "borough says not to") I am appalled. It should be criminal to do so. Stick to burning organics (wood, paper, etc), and please, at the very least, put a catalytic converter on your boiler.
I always wonder why we pay so much for our gas when we have the refineries so close. It isn't like we are shipping it to the lower 48 and have to pay them to bring it back. Something should be done so that Alaskans can have oil for Alaskans. Why isn't there a company by Alaskans for our resources? Why doesn't Alaska take from the top our share and pass on the cost to the others? I just seems like our resources are always being taken from other countries or companies from outside Alaska, we could use some companies of our own.
I can tell you exactly why we pay so much for gas and heating oil in the interior. At $103 per barrel the local refinery is paying the State of Alaska $2.45 per gallon for North Slope crude oil. The local refinery has to process the crude into gasoline and heating oil. After expenses and profits the refinery makes around 50 cents per gallon. Our local delivery companies then deliver it to our homes for a cost around 30 cents per gallon. As you can see the only one that we can blame for high costs is our very own state government who is sudddenly looking at a $5 billion dollar budget surplus.
The question that we as Alaskans need to ask is whether the maximum benefit from our resources is a HUGE multi-billion dollar state government or should we put the energy needs of Alaskans first?
It's really neat Fairbanksgas was able to set up PolarGasLLC and make a deal with Exxon. It seems that for the first time in history the engineers are acknowledging that the Badami and TAPS-system is capable of handling NGL's too. The producers have been passing tons of gas right past Fairbanks and out to sea for 30years by blending it with the crude.. the crude will absorb a small-med percentage of propane,ethane,butane,pentane; higher amounts will cause shuddering in the pipe. Because TAPS is currently operating at 45% capacity it's possible to schedule a week or month long gas shipment of LPG or mixed NGL's to Fairbanks during a time of year when the thermal management of TAPS is most easy. A load of LPG passed between pigs thru TAPS will clean the waxes off the inside of the pipe for doing top notch smart-pig inspections. The opportunity for building very large LPG storage capacity in Fairbanks is obvious. I have a ready to go location in south central for fabricating 40' LPG-ISO tanks, if anybody is interested in setting up a project to get as many LPG storage tanks into the NorthStar Borough as possible ASAP at bottom dollar cost I would be happy to help.. you can contact me through this forum>>> http://newsminer.com/users/DistantThunde...
Alaskans should demand their 12.5%RoyaltyGas, R-Gas, our gas should be the heavier Natural Gas Liquids NGL's ..
Propane is ideal for everything Alaskans need..
if you have a gasline or big tank you don't need GVEA power, you can run a little watercooled generator to power your lodge and make hotwater&heat.
LPG powered cars in Fairbanks ice-fog is better than diesel, and diesels can be boosted with propane too.
NGL's are the source for pure virgin plastics..
and a 40,000mile smart-network of little gaslines all over the territory can be Made in Alaska by Alaskans.
...just feed 100tcf of NorthSlope gas into the north end of the network of tubes, and 99tcf of NatGas will find it's way out of the south end of the network for taxable export to outside markets.
If everybody studied up on the benefits of hydrogen, Alaskans could cut their carbon emissions in half while doubling their efficiency.
http://waterpoweredcar.com/hydrobooster....
http://peswiki.com/energy/OS:Water_Fuel_...
http://peswiki.com/energy/Directory:Hydr...
...when UAF becomes a world leader in electrolysis technologies, then how to use coal with less pollution than methane will be revealed, and a one of the scientists living in Fairbanks will be heralded as another Nobel Prize winner [ww].
More efficient housing is super important...
[my apologies for the hundred crackerboxes we built in Fairbanks in the '70's]
Please study up on "AAC concrete" concrete foam construction systems.
goog> nanocrete too
AAC-cement can revolutionize the building industry in Alaska..
and with Alaskan innovations AAC might blow the doors off everything else in all categories, including cost.
There's a guy in Montana building fireproof-rotproof log-homes with this stuff.
I am glad to see people are finally complaining about heating prices instead of the flouride in the water. Maybe if enough people will complain we could see cheaper prices. But somehow i doubt it. I just dont see the fuel companies or GVEA dropping their prices or even wanting to. I'm sure that they like that $900 bill way more than they would a two or three hundred dollar bill
I am impressed with the knowledgable people that have resoponded with legitimate facts of actual problems.
Do they remember, the actual costs of fuel in the late 70's, and 80's. And do they remember the "Road taxes that differentiated between heating fuel and Highway road tax costs". At present there seems to be no distinguishing difference.
It costs less for a refinery to produce a lower grade of fuel "diesel" than it does to produce "gasoline". Everyone started buying Diesel pickups. Hence, supply and demand. Construction "Jobs" were the primary users.
We have the resources in the state, yet the closest to the refineries seem to pay more than the people who have the product shipped to them.
In World news, "Hurricane Catrina" the oil companies contributed less, or nothing, than anybody else. Yet they all reported record profits during the same time period.
I know the price per barrel is up, hence the state is making more money in revenue. How are they spending it? More government? Putting it into the dividend fund?
Palin is doing a good job of rattling cages. The people of Alaska who live off of the resources of the state always should be willing to negotiate, but should be given preferential treatment. How much more does it cost everybody to live here than it would cost you to live in a warmer climate.
"
http://www.wps.com/LPG/WVU-review.html
Some data on Liquified Natural Gas -vs LP/Propane and Gasoline re engines etc...
Propane/LP seems kind of problematical at low ambient temperatures. Certainly deserves more research.
Thanks for the info Distant Thunder. I did some research on your comments, and you are not nuts!
Ooooppss!!!!.....
Thanx greg228 4 th'correction about LPG at ice-fog temps..
yes, propane boils at -44F.. therefore it is indeed problematic when my coffee cup freezes to my lips..
but not impossible to work with in vehicles at low-temps, Century and Impco make LPG-carb systems that work well at -80F.
....I forgot to mention arctic-mix LPG-e, it's mixed with ethane to drop the boiling point to -80F..
..but special precautions need to be used with this stuff when temps rise above zero.
Never store it indoors, and read the instruction manual, otherwise you'll be a crispy critter.. but don't let the lawyers stop you from using the stuff, more people get cooked with gasoline anyway.
...not nuts, just crazier than a cuckooclock!
...flash/rumble
DistantThunder,
I tried to connect via the link but was unable to.
I'd like to pass your comments on to some significant others, so do you have another means to connect?
I'm in Cordova but maintain contact with Juneau on a regular basis.
Thanks.
Can't wait too sell my house!!
With the high cost of fuel, utility rates,property taxes assessments......
Need to find some information on proper Etiquette for wearing a loincloth and how to make good spears from stone .......
Oh and alot of people like to talk about how much higher the price was in the 70's during the oil crisis but one thing that strikes me about the crisis that happened in the 70's was that it was real by noting the gas stations with signs reporting they had no gas.
Has anyone seen that here or anywhere else in the USA?
This crisis is driven by greed by corporate business trying to venture into alternative energies, the speculators, and the Government which profits handsomely from taxation of the profits earned and taxes aquired when sold to the consumer...Yeah it's a wonderful thing......Soon enough it might be considered a middle class lifestyle if you get a sack of potatoes at the end of the month..
I am not happy with the cost of heating fuel we are paying. I am not saying that the cost of oil hasn't gone up in the last few years, but I am asking the public to question the price that we are paying for our heating fuel in comparison to the cost of gasoline. I also would like the STATE and Alaskans to consider the North Pole Refinery that was built in the 70's deal and the Flint Hills deal in the 2000's buy out.. This is all from what I have read as I was growing up and could be right or Could be Wrong? This could be something for all of us to think about and maybe the media to investigate since the government doesn't seem to do a good job. My understanding is that when the Refinery was first built it was agreed to, with the State, that it could tack on transportation cost to Fairbanks from the nearest refinery for the fuel, this is why when they send gas/fuel to Anchorage it is cheaper because Anchorage is closer to the nearest refinery that was in existance before North Pole was built. If I am correct, then after 30+ years this should be addressed to eliminate the charge for transportation from another refinery when ours is in North Pole and we are also paying another transportation charge to Sourdough or whom ever delivers fuel to us or the Service Station. This refinery that has through its many sales, most recently Flint Hills, has boasted that it is the most profitable refinery in the UNITED STATES. (Pobably at our expense} Maybe it is time to take the transportation costs of the table, another thing to ask is why do we pay around 15 cents for low surfer fuel to be shipped up to us when Flint Hills negociated with the State when buying the refinery that they would expand the refinery to produce the fuel at an increase of about 7 1/2 cent a gallon. They didn't spend the $200 million as talked about and now we are paying twice the transportation. Why hasn't this been addressed? Also after working for Texaco from the 70's, 80's and early 90's, I know that there is a process in refining oil.
Just to keep it simple, the cheaper of the processes I will mention is #2 heating Oil(diesel). How does that compare with the price of gas up town? So, lets say #2 heating cost X amount to produce, next in the refining is #1 heating Oil that may cost X + another (say) 4 cents, then the next process is producing the lowest grade of gas, which would cost X + 4 cents + another maybe 10 cents. So lets say that gas should cost 14 cents at the pumps more than #2 heating oil, oh, did I forget to mention that heating oil has no taxes on it, so now we need to look at the cost of gas and ad the taxes to that equation which between the Fed's and the State is .26 cents a gallon. OKay, now #2 heating is X, #1 heating is X + 4 cents, low grade gas (unleaded) is X + 4 cents + 10 cents + taxes .26 cents, this means that:\
#2 heating should cost $X
#1 heating should cost 4 cents more than #2 heating
Unleaded gas should cost 40 cents more than #2 heating
Diesel is the same as heating in Fairbanks except for it is produce at the other refinery and is low sulfur for an additional transportation cost (don't forget in the original refinery deal we already are charged transportation, I guess we are lucky we pay twice) and also same as gas it has a Fed & State Tax of 26 cents.
I guess I just want the people of Alaska to question what is going on, we know that Crude is the highest it has ever been, but this is no excuse for the difference in prices when gas is now cheaper than heating oil produced locally and has no taxes added in to it.
I also don't understand why this has never been asked before, but to me the the cheapest to produce and without any taxes on it coming out of Flint Hills Refinery should mean that if gas at the pumps cost $3.15 a gallon, then #2 heating delivered should cost aroung $2.75 a gallon.
Please, someone talk to me, help me understand why this is going on...
They're doing it because they can. Flint Hills promised when they took over form Williams that there'd be no notable rate increases. They lied.
Anchorage is getting North Pole's fuels cheaper than N. Pole and Fairbanks are; after being shipped over 350 miles.
They've justified all of this by stating that they're calculating the price of a gallon of 'X' type of fuel, if it were shipped up from Anaheim.
What they apparently fail to realize is that if they price their consumers right out of the Borough/Interior, for not being able to afford to heat their homes, etc., that it'd be rather ignorant from a business perspective.
And yes, the short-sightedness and naivety of the average American, who built homes up here for years with leaky vapor barriers, minimal insulation, and single-pane windows, has come back to bite those who now inhabit those houses. But oil back then was worth less than a dime a gallon. Such is the fore-sight of the average homo-sapien. And it hurts now; especially if you've got a family to feed.
Additionally, every time Shrubbie or his minions whispers tough talk about invading another country in the land of deserts and oil, our fuel prices jump another .08 cents/gallon.
Lastly, if everyone in the Borough starts burning trash, coal, and wood, not only will the town be a strange color of toxic gray and black, with lots of folks having respiratory conditions, but the hill-sides will resemble the clear-cuts of S.E. Alaska that still look gapingly over the Inside Passage's otherwise pristine hills.
We need an electrical generation system built on the N. Slope, where the gas IS, with relays along a line to the rest of the State, following the oil line's path. Screw the gas line; generate the juice up there, feed the State (even with the line loss, there's a good potential), and get wind generators up at Rainbow Mtn/Isabell Pass, out at Nome, and elsewhere, where there's relatively consistent wind.
Otherwise we're headed toward a situation that'll make the negative population growth experienced here in the mid-80s look pretty tame. People won't stay where they can't afford to live, and 3% COLAs are up against 35% inflation at the moment; we're working for less and less, and losing our butts while we do it.
What will your home be worth when every fifth house is for sale, and few persons can afford to live here anymore??
As far as Dirk, you are missing the point of price gouging on the current issue in Fairbanks. Your other points may be good, but if commenting on my letter, lets stay to the point that gas costs a lot more than heating oil with no taxes or transportation. We can address your issues as another problem, people today are paying for this gouging every day as we speak and try to make ends meet to survive.
Please stay focused on my conversation as is and then yours on a different level.
Thanks.
Or we could look at the price of fuel this way...
We are residents in an oil rich state and as such are owners of it's recources. Our state government knows this and sends us a check each year to cover our part. My family of 3 received near $4,800 last year alone and by popular estimates will receive a larger amount this year.
My modest 1300 sq. ft. home with and attached 1300 sq.ft. garage/shop has used on average 1200 gallons each year over the past 6 years. I know this because I have a spreadsheet set up to track such things. 1200 gallons @ $3.12 per gallon = $3,744. Or to put it another way, $1,056 less than what I was paid for my part of the oil recources. My house by the way averages 73 degrees.
I only own 1 vehicle and it drinks fuel like a kid guzzeling soda. In 2007 my wife and I drove it 10,455 miles at 13 miles per gallon using 804 gallons along the way. Just for hoots and giggles lets assume an average of $2.90 a gallon for all fuel put in the truck last year. That amount comes up