[PrairieMule]

Natural gas situation hit home for me yesterday. Our gas bill came in and In the last 6 years at our address I don't think we have ever had a bill over $100. We have always been lucky because of our mild winters in Texas. In fact our Nov bill was $67. Anyways, the bill for December was for $285!!!!!

I just about spilled my bowels. If a hard winter hit we just couldn't budget an additional $200 a month for 3-6 months. Anyways SBC(Southwestern Bell Corp) just delivered the greater Dallas Yellow pages yesterday. I plan to steal whatever phonebooks from my neighbor's front porches in the dead of night and barter 9mm ammo and 12ga shells for the rest. I figure if I can get a dozen or more Greater Dallas yellow pages I can heat my house the rest of the winter I'll be OK.

Well, hopefully I am ahead of the curve and can hoard enough free phonebooks. Looks like we may have the civil unrest in the suburbs just as pontificated by so many on this site. I should have heeded the advice of so many telling me that ALL resources which we were wasteful and took for granted all the free Telephone books I have recieved. Who figured it would be PEAK PHONE BOOK?

BTW, F*ck You Atmos Energy! F*ck you very much!

[emersonbiggins]

PM, how are your neighbors dealing with this? Shock, disbelief, anger?

[PrairieMule]

I think the flashpoint will be after the 21st when the bills become deliquent. One never thinks they may have to put a slug in a neighbors leg, and certainly not over phone books. Reminds me of my trip to Las Vegas back in 98'. If you have never been to Vegas you will notice is the sheer number of brothel flyers passed out on the strip. At night it looks like egg drop soup with the thousands of heat producing combustable brothel flyers blowing in the wind. It's almost undescribable to see a visible manefestation of the wind like that , like the northern lights. Now being Southern Baptist, I could easily see myself burning pornography to survive. I just wished I lived closer to a area like that that has a abundance of chimney tinder.

[PenultimateManStanding]

If the populace can't afford the energy at the prices the scarcities demand, the demand will have to go down. Can't wave a wand and get more gas. I hope somebody's minding the storehouse, i.e. making sure food production and distribution don't fall early prey to the market.

[emersonbiggins]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PrairieMule', 'I') think the flashpoint will be after the 21st when the bills become deliquent.

[PrairieMule]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('emersonbiggins', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PrairieMule', 'I') think the flashpoint will be after the 21st when the bills become deliquent.

[emersonbiggins]

Here's what Oklahoma Corporation Commissioner Bob Anthony had to say about high NG prices:

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'C')orporation Commissioner Bob Anthony said the agency is experiencing a high volume of calls from utility customers.

"The commission and the utility companies are getting large number of telephone calls from consumers who are shocked at their bills," said Anthony, a member of National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners' Natural Gas Committee. "If your budget won't stand it, it's better to put on a sweater and turn back the thermostat."

This season, gas has been as high as $15 per mcf. Gas is expected to fall to about $9 per mcf in the coming weeks.

"The day-to-day market for natural gas has been extremely volatile this season," Anthony said. "Electricity bills to consumers are going to be necessarily high."

Anthony said political, environmental and other considerations limit natural gas production along the east and west coasts, the Rocky Mountains and Alaska, limiting supplies and keeping prices high.

"America has a plentiful supply of natural gas, much of which is withheld from producers," Anthony said. "If America wants a more plentiful supply at reasonable costs, they're going to have to allow producers to go where the availability is."

[PrairieMule]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('emersonbiggins', 'H')ere's what Oklahoma Corporation Commissioner Bob Anthony had to say about high NG prices:

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'C')orporation Commissioner Bob Anthony said the agency is experiencing a high volume of calls from utility customers.

"The commission and the utility companies are getting large number of telephone calls from consumers who are shocked at their bills," said Anthony, a member of National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners' Natural Gas Committee. "If your budget won't stand it, it's better to put on a sweater and turn back the thermostat."

This season, gas has been as high as $15 per mcf. Gas is expected to fall to about $9 per mcf in the coming weeks.

"The day-to-day market for natural gas has been extremely volatile this season," Anthony said. "Electricity bills to consumers are going to be necessarily high."

Anthony said political, environmental and other considerations limit natural gas production along the east and west coasts, the Rocky Mountains and Alaska, limiting supplies and keeping prices high.

"America has a plentiful supply of natural gas, much of which is withheld from producers," Anthony said. "If America wants a more plentiful supply at reasonable costs, they're going to have to allow producers to go where the availability is."

[emersonbiggins]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PrairieMule', '
')Bob Anthony, as in Anthony's Dept stores. That family has more money with the exception of the Mathis Brothers. I'm sure they didn't diversify their money into natural gas when they closed down all those stores and put all those people out of work.

[spear]

Magazines have that quality gloss paper and dont burn as well as the phone books and newspapers.
Go raid all the paper recycling bins in your area .Stash it all in your shed.
Newspapers,rolled up tight and dipped in fuel oil,or diesel are perfect in the wood stove for emergencies.

[holmes]

countdown: 2025. should be in full force by then. The best bet thermal mass home with solar and wind. Hydro if possible. other than that join the hoard. Hang in there Mule. If u need to get out of dodge Im up here in a fertile crescent.

[PrairieMule]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('holmes', 'c')ountdown: 2025. should be in full force by then. The best bet thermal mass home with solar and wind. Hydro if possible. other than that join the hoard. Hang in there Mule. If u need to get out of dodge Im up here in a fertile crescent.

[lateStarter]

As I'm 'out and about' in downtown Warsaw, I accept every free paper offered. There are literally thousands of people giving away free daily papers in Warsaw on every street corner and at every intersection. They are happy that I took the paper, and I return at the end of the day with a backpack/briefcase full of papers to use in the furnace. Not enough to heat the house, but great to have around for starting things up and getting it going again when I have been out for a few hours. I even take all the glossy stuff. I know it doesn't burn as well, but it does burn!

[lateStarter]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Shannymara', 'W')e are in a large, 2 story, Victorian rental house that is 120 years old and very energy inefficient. We also use Atmos Energy for our natural gas (in Palestine, TX). We have a water heater, stove/oven and heat. Our most recent gas bill was $189 (up from about $40 over the summer) - and I kept the thermostat set at 55°F the whole time, except for 2 days when we had houseguests (set it to 68 then), and a couple of other mornings I cranked it up for half an hour or so.

Our electric bill went up $60, too, because of using an electric blanket and two oil-filled space heaters at night. I'm sure it would've been worse if I'd used the gas heat, though.

[jesus_of_suburbia_old]

What is your definition of cold in Texas?

[TommyJefferson]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PrairieMule', 't')he bill for December was for $285!!!!! ...I plan to steal whatever phonebooks from my neighbor's front porches in the dead of night and barter 9mm ammo and 12ga shells for the rest.

[Grimnir]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PrairieMule', 't')he bill for December was for $285!!!!!

[PrairieMule]

Tommy,

You and I both know hot weather is the real issue in Texas. SO PAY ATTENTION TEXANS!!! A few years ago I bought one of these.

http://www.hennessyhammock.com/reflector.htm

It's a hennesey hammock and it's hands down the greatest thing ever to come out of Canada. I have camped out here in Texas in Sept and as long as the temp does not go above 80 you will get a good night sleep. I have 2 hammocks and plan to aquire 1 more for my kids to sleep in if the a/c goes out.

[gnm]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('TommyJefferson', '
')Dear Lord I need a way to run my air conditioner on pine logs.

My Peak Oil plans involve moving to a location that doesn't require air conditioning.

[smiley]

I dunno why people use electric blankets. I don't have heating in the bedroom, and when it gets below -10 it can freeze in the room, but under the blanket it is still very comfortable. if anything the cold is a good exuse to snuggle up.

I am slightly worried about our gas bill though. We pay a monthly fixed fee, and in april that fee is subtracted from our actual use x the gas price and we have to pay the difference. I guess we have to pay a bit extra this year.