Propane prices are dropping below $3 a gallon at some Iowa retailers. Harold Hommes oversees a propane price report that’s issued twice a week by the Iowa Department of Agriculture.
On Wednesday, the statewide average price stood at $3.08 a gallon. “That’s down 12-cents from the Monday report and down 31-cents from the report of last Wednesday,” Hommes says. The retail price retreat from the $5 a gallon level in late January is likely to continue, according to Hommes, as warmer temperatures are in the forecast.
Hommes says efforts to increase the movement of propane are helping as well. Around two dozen state issued hours of service waivers for the transport industry. “Those waivers allow for truckers to drive beyond their normal regulated hours. They’ve been very beneficial in relocating some additional barrels of propane up to the Midwest,” Hommes says.
About 15-percent of Iowa homes are heated with propane, mainly in rural areas.
(Reporting by Pat Powers, KQWC, Webster City)