Northwest Iowa — After the frigid temperatures of this past weekend, many northwest Iowans are understandably concerned about the cost of heating their homes this winter. However, an industry expert says the price for one type of fuel that many area residents use to heat their homes is holding steady.
Harold Hommes, a fuels analyst with the Iowa Department of Agriculture, says the latest fuel report is very encouraging.
Hommes says the price of propane is expected to remain the same this winter, which is a far different story from the winter of 2013-14 when the propane price saw a dramatic rise. By comparison, he says this two-cent boost in the past week is almost nothing.
In January of 2014, Iowa hit a record high for propane at just over five dollars a gallon. Prices now are about one-fifth that. It’s estimated 67-percent of Iowans use natural gas to heat their homes, 15-percent use electricity and 14-percent use liquid propane.
