Three reasons why propane wins over electricity
Let’s get serious about the National Energy Conversation
In today’s fast paced digital news and social media world we are bombarded daily with messages about wind and solar power and other lesser sources of “green” energy. Many candidates in the upcoming 2020 election cycle are trying to outdo one another on who is the biggest supporter of green energy and doing away with all things related to the fossil fuel world in which we live now.
Most green energy goes into a funnel and comes out the bottom in the form of very expensive electricity. The wind and the sun may be free, but the infrastructure and production cost of electricity from these sources are not. That is why most forms of renewable energy are heavily subsidized by the Federal government and rate payers, in the hope that it will be commercially viable and competitive at some point in the future. Electric public utilities and rural electric coops are scrambling to make bold new business plans to be providing all or a major portion of their electricity from renewable resources in the next decade or two. Most electric utilities have a “bold new business plan” regarding green energy because they made similar projections in an old plan and fell way short of less aggressive expectations. In other words, these bold new business plans are really a PR campaign by power companies to stay in the popular green conversation, while having even less chance of succeeding.
Meanwhile, back in propane country, we are quietly competing with electricity in three important ways.
- Energy cost – Propane in most parts of the country costs less – a lot less than electricity on a Btu comparable basis. Propane is in plentiful supply and the long range outlook is for propane prices to continue to be moderate. In comparison, the long range outlook for the cost of electricity is grim, due to the renewable scramble.
- Environment – Propane has an immediate positive impact on the environment whenever it replaces or is chosen in favor of electricity on any application you can imagine. Consumers don’t have to wait a decade or two for their electric utilities to try to produce electricity from renewable sources. Propane is cleaner today!
- Workload – Propane is a workhorse in comparison to electricity. Propane does more work and does it faster than electricity in any application you can think of. Take water heating for example. A propane water heater, tankless or storage tank model, heats more water faster than a comparable electric model. It isn’t even a close race. Propane wins hands down.
Yes, there are pockets of the country where electricity does cost less than propane, but the environmental and workload advantages of propane should far outweigh the cost difference. Is paying less for a cold shower really an advantage?
The propane industry should be more involved in the National Energy Conversation than we are now. I give the Propane Education & Research Council (PERC) kudos for updating its message delivery platform by converting to a much more digital approach than it had previously. This digital approach gives the propane industry an on-ramp to the National Energy Conversation. Now it is time to adjust the messages being delivered. While the recently developed “Propane can do that” campaign may play well with some consumers, it is doubtful that it will have any real impact with those influencers with which we really should be communicating at the national level.
Remember, propane does more for less cost and will do it cleaner than electricity for decades to come. Propane marketers can easily tell this story locally, but who is going to shape and tell the right propane story at the national level? The answer should be obvious.
Tom Jaenicke is Vice-President of Propane Marketing Services for Warm Thoughts Communications, a company providing Breakthrough Marketing Solutions for the energy services industry. He can be reached at tjaenicke@warmthoughts.com or call him at 810 252-7855.
