Governor Scott Walker has been named the new chairman of the Midwestern Governors Association. Walker says a primary focus of his tenure leading the organization will be to focus on the propane fuel shortage that has hit residents of the region hard this winter.
Fuel prices shot up this January, largely due to the extreme cold weather and already dimished supplies brought on by farmers using more propane than usual to dry out crops last fall. The high prices resulted in many propane customers having to spend three to four times the usual rate to fill up their tanks, while many were also left with no fuel at all when companies could not fufill their contracts because of fuel shortages.
Walker says the crisis exposed a number of problems throughout the Midwest that he wants to start addressing immediately. The governor responded to the Wisconsin shortage by making more fuel aid available to low-income residents, and easing rules to make it easier for drivers to ship propane. Walker says “it’s paramount that we bring people together to focus on solutions and find ways to mitigate several of these issues, such as increasing the number of propane tanks filled in summer instead of fall.”
