RINGWOOD, N.J. (PIX11) — It’s a phrase that brings to mind natural disasters, like hurricanes or blizzards, but a state of emergency has now gone into effect in New Jersey over propane deliveries.
As is the case in most natural disasters, this state of emergency affects a lot of people across New Jersey — nearly 200,000 homes.
Also similar to many other states of emergency, this latest one is related to weather, since propane use typically rises as temperatures fall. With a winter storm on the way this weekend, a potential propane shortage is what the state of emergency is intended to prevent.
The declaration that New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy made on Thursday went into effect at 9:00 a.m. Friday. The reason it had been made in the first place was evident
At the propane distribution tank that’s at the rear of the parking lot behind the Home Hardware store in Waldwick.
There on Friday morning, a crew from Superior Plus Propane drove their service truck next to the large tank and filled it. LP gas specialist Jonathan Ford led the crew. He said that at distribution points like Home Hardware, crews were seeing an unusual demand.
“The pump stations, they’re using a lot more now,” Ford said, referring to locations where he and his crew get their payload for further distribution, “because of the state of emergency.”
In issuing and signing the executive order declaring the emergency, Gov. Murphy l said that one of the biggest suppliers of propane to the Garden State, in Marcus Hook Pennsylvania, has had a service issue since November 21st. That problem prevents trucks from traveling easily from other suppliers to New Jersey homes.
To address that issue, the executive order extends the maximum driving time for propane trucks from 11 hours to 14 hours. The order also requires a 10-hour rest period.
On the home front, residents like Cathy and Larry Hartwick, of Ringwood, are among the 186,000 propane customers affected.
They have a large tank outside of their wood-shingled two-story home, and said they rely on it.
“We use it for cooking,” Ms. Hartwick said, “[on] the gas stove and the gas dryer.”
Those appliances, she said, they could live without in a pinch, since they have natural gas heat. Still, she added, she and her husband are concerned for other neighbors with propane tanks.
“I would be worried,” she said, “if that were my primary heat source.”
For those customers, said Clinton Andrews, a professor of urban studies and policy at Rutgers University, not having propane heat creates potentially severe conditions for thousands of families statewide.
“[It] can lead to frozen pipes, can lead to sick kids, it could lead to a whole variety of problems,” Prof. Andrews said.
He said that the whole situation underscores how problematic the use of propane can be.
“There’s room for policy improvements,” he said in an interview. He said that the situation highlights the need to make natural gas or electrical heating systems more widely available in New Jersey, “to help people substitute away from propane,” Andrews said.
The state of emergency remains in effect, Gov. Murphy said in the official announcement, “until it is determined that an emergency no longer exists.”