WASHINGTON- House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin C. Peterson and a bipartisan group of lawmakers sent a letter today to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Chairman Neil Chatterjee on behalf of farmers and rural residents across the Midwest, to bring awareness to the need for a continued supply of propane to Midwest states. 

The letter aims to ensure that FERC is aware that farmers and grain elevator operators are dealing with propane shortages while trying to finish harvest and prepare grain for storage.  This is happening as below normal temperatures have arrived early and residential use of propane is also increasing.  In 2014, FERC took extraordinary measures to address catastrophic conditions and propane shortages. This letter intends to remind the commissioners that they have tools to help address the conditions facing our rural communities.

“We hope to avoid a disastrous situation with cold temperatures and snow in the forecast spiking demand for residential deliveries just as farmers are needing to heat poultry and livestock barns and crop farmers are facing one of their most frustrating harvest seasons in years,” wrote the lawmakers in the letter.