CORINTH, Maine — Wood pellet heating is catching on at a slower rate than its leaders would like to see, but with some support from the federal government it could “go viral,” according to the owner of a local pellet producer.
Representatives of Maine’s pellet industry, including three owners of wood pellet companies and Dutch Dresser, president of the Maine Pellet Fuels Association, met with Dallas Tonsager, undersecretary for U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development, on Thursday morning at Corinth Wood Pellets. They asked for the USDA’s support in boosting the alternative heating method.
“We see [wood pellet heating] as a major solution for Mainers,” said George Soffron, president and CEO of Corinth Wood Pellets.
But the pellet industry isn’t receiving benefits from the federal government at the same level as producers of ethanol fuels in other parts of the country, such as the Midwest, according to Soffron.
“Liquid fuels clearly are given higher subsidies and preferential treatment,” he said after leading Tonsager on a tour of the facility to show him the pellet manufacturing process.
Tonsager said he didn’t know enough about the wood pellet industry to fully back it as a viable source of heat, which is part of the reason he came to visit Maine.
“I think you have an evolving industry and the pieces are starting to fit together,” he said.
Tonsager said every region of the country has its strengths and weaknesses. Maine’s strength is its vast forests that provide a huge and, more important, renewable source of wood to produce pellets.
In the American Plains, the strength is corn, which becomes ethanol — a step up from Tonsager’s childhood, when he used a mixture of corn cobs and coal to heat the family farmhouse in South Dakota.
Tonsager said his department would take a closer look at its rules and regulations so Maine’s pellet producers don’t run into barriers when deciding how to use their funding, which would allow the fledgling industry to make better use of Maine’s wood energy resources.
“To hear [Tonsager] say that strategies need to be different by region was a huge step forward,” Soffron said.
Pellets start out as wet wood chips — which are ground into a finer form — and sawdust that has a moisture content around 45 percent. Much of the wood comes from the floors and waste bins of other facilities that don’t have a use for the residual wood.
The chips and dust go through a drying process, which drops the moisture content to about 5 percent by the time they reach pellet form, according to Soffron.
The wood particles are forced through a series of small holes in a die, which compresses the wood into pellets — similar to the way an extruder works.
Pellets generate a lot of heat, burn cleanly because they’re dense and burn easily because of their low moisture content, Soffron said.
Soffron said he expects pellets to grow in popularity, especially if heating oil prices continue to rise each winter. Still, Corinth Wood Pellets is only using about half of its 75,000-ton capacity because demand isn’t high enough.
He said wood pellet heating tends to spread on a street-by-street basis. When one person in a neighborhood gets a pellet stove or boiler, others tend to follow.
If the USDA provides incentives to make the conversion process simpler and cheaper for homeowners and businesses, the sprawl should speed up, Soffron said.
Tonsager said USDA Rural Development would explore ways to make that happen.
“We take the perspective that everything green is good,” he told the pellet industry representatives. “We’re more than anxious to be helpful to what you’re attempting to do.”
I thought pellet stoves were part of the the energy credits’ program. If they weren’t it should have been. Also, I find it interesting that when we are about to discontinue the ethanol susidies, wood pellet companies are asking for assistance. I am not saying they shouldn’t receive the help, I am simply mentioning this fact.
Pellet stoves were part of the energy credit program but the credits expired.
they were,,,, but I believe that program ran out
5 years ago you could buy a ton of wood pellets for under 150.00 now the same exact ton will cost an extra $100.00 maybe even more.
The corinth company is actually admitting it is holding back on production. and this is driving up the prices. Maybe if they produced what they were capable of they could lower the cost and more Families could afford to try Pellet heat. Lowe`s sells a pellet from Pensylvania that is superior to any maine product and at an affordable price.
These companies need to give us a good product that is reasonablly priced.
It is almost to the point where I`m not saving much by using pellets over oil heat
2 bags of pellets is $10.00 and 3 gals of oil is 11.50 and dones have to carry bags to the stove and don`t have to clean the stove
THANK YOU KYLIEOO! I’ve been saying this for a few years now, that the price of pellets keeps going up, and even the people who buy them are telling me I’m full of crap. Same with firewood and now those biobricks/envi-blocks are also following suit with the prices going up as demand goes up. Plain old greed is what I see happening.
Supply and demand means if you have more demand than supply the price will climb and more supply than demand the price will fall. With alternative sources, the demand will go to the more usable or cheaper product.
These companies are trying to decrease supply before they have built enough demand, and before they can beat other forms of fuel…and then want a subsidy to fill the gap with what people will pay.
No subsidies!
They are holding back on production because of the rule of diminishing returns. If you don’t have more demand and you continue to flood the market with pellets the price will drop per unit and then they will not be making any more money in the long run. If you had to work twice as hard to make half the money, would you do it? Unfortunately the world doesn’t work on charity. It’s not a conspiracy to keep the price high, it’s economics. Be glad that they are in business and producing what they are to give us an alternative.
In December 2006 average heating oil prices were $2.26/gal. The price of oil has a strong effect on the price of commodities created and moved using oil. So with the $1.40 increase in cost of oil you can presume a significant increase in the cost of, well pretty much everything manufactured or delivered, but particularly a competing product.
I heat my home with pellets and there is no denying that pellets save me a ton of money. The best part is I can stack several tons in my basement and buy them whenever I feel like it. Unlike oil that you have to buy at drastically fluctuating market price, or lock in to some rediculous payment scheme from some shameless oil company. I actually had a technician from one large company tell me they would “keep my oil furnace limping along so they could sell me more oil.”
With wood pellets I’m not a slave to a 275 gallon tank, a delivery route, or a greedy few suppliers.
Thank you, Jmill85, for the lesson in basic business finance and market economics. I’m always amazed at how many people don’t have a clue.
But your neighbor who does not use pellets will be a slave to greedy suppliers who take tax dollars to artificially inflate their prices. Your neighbors will be paying part of your heating bill. And so will people in Florida and California. Unless you are one of those who think you are a winner if you can hurt someone else, you will not want to force that payment.
It is not a bad business practice to sell a greater quantity at a lower price rather than a small quantity at a higher price. There is nothing wrong with selling something at the highest possible price if you keep enough market share. However, there is something basically wrong with pricing something too high to get enough market share to be profitable and then whining to the government to subsidize you.
Like oil companies have been doing for years? At least the money is going int e the MAINE economy
Oil companies can only manipulate oil prices so much. Once a competitive alternative to oil gets around it will no longer be able to keep bringing the price of oil up. It’s a simple matter of supply and demand. If anything, don’t let the government intervene when something healthy and helpful is going on in the economy. If history means anything, we should know better than to look to government for solutions when government usually ends by creating more problems than it resolves.
I was talking towards big oil, not the local companies. I am not a fan of subsidies either, but lets face it, they’re not going away anytime soon. If they could cut some of the big oil subsidies and hand them out to Maine companies to keep or add more jobs locally, I think the money would be better spent
I’m didn’t say I supported any sort of subsidy. Subsidies just throw free markets for a loop and leave unintended consequences. I don’t support them for oil, pellets or any other product. I was just saying there is a point where cranking out more and more pellets for the hell of it doesn’t benefit a company necessarily.
Welcome to the Illusion,
Free Markets!
Concerning the discussion of the wood pellet industry, it’s still small and there’s plenty of room for expansion and for new competitors to come on the scene as demands continues to grow. Why is it not free? In the absence of any significant collusion, the fact one or more of them are holding back production for higher prices only demonstrates the free market is at work. Farmers do that all the time. When prices are at or below production cost they curb their production by planting or sowing less. When prices go up they tend to increase their production. Meat producers operate the same way.
“Illusions”, you say? I think its more reality than illusion.
I don’t quite understand what point you are trying to make. Are you for government intervention or not?
Right now I don’t see any need for it. If heating with pellets is cheaper as you say, then undoubtedly the buying public will react eventually by either adding on or converting to a wood pellet heating device without costly government intervention in the form of subsidies or unwarranted regulations.
Not for subsidies. In fact we should level the field and remove the subsidies for oil as well. My point was that the original comment was that they were “holding back production to drive up prices” which would only work if there wasn’t competition because their competitor would produce more to fill the demand and make more money (unless they were breaking anti-trust laws and all the producers agreed to keep production low….like OPEC).
They are not producing at full capacity because if current demand is not high enough to warrant the cost of producing additional units.
Okay, your prior comment is now clearer to me. We both oppose subsidies even though we know OPEC is not a free market. Personally, I don’t think OPEC will be able to continue controlling prices for long as it has until now. More fuel efficient cars are coming on the market, wood pellets are now beginning to compete, nuclear power is starting to unravel as the government relaxes its control over new plant construction. These are just some of many examples why I think OPEC will eventually no longer be an effective force to control the energy market. Am I wrong? I hope not. What do you think?
Unfortunately we can’t control the anti-trust type activity of OPEC because it is not our jursidiction and who are we to tell people what to do with their nation’s resources? I don’t expect them to give it away. The more alternatives or alternative producers (Canada! or maybe even USA!) outside of OPEC the less manipulative control they have.
More importantly the more alternative energies we can create the better off we are and the less power they have. That being said it should be done through conscious consumerism and free markets, not subsidies or unfair tax structures.
Couldn’t have expressed this opinion any better myself. Am in total agreement.
Pellets have been $200 a ton all season long, use a coupon at one of the big box stores and you could get 20 bucks off. Studies show that at that price, pellets have as much as twice the heating potential depending on the quality of your stove.
As users switch to advanced technology and start installing whole house pellet furnaces those numbers will go even higher.
Oil only puts a delivery truck to work in your community. Pellets put mainers to work all over the state. Oil puts money into the pockets of big oil which has been receiving tax payer subsidy for decades, time for that to change. The subsidies should shift immediately to technologies that can reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, and improve our economy by saving citizens money and adding jobs.
You make a lot of sense. Your input is much appreciated from someone like me who is considering making a conversion to wood pellets. Still, I’m compelled to oppose any form of government subsidy that not only burdens tax payers but skews market forces further. With rising oil prices, the pellet industry will do just fine even with the market blips it is currently experiencing due to overly optimistic market expectations.
I’m not in favor of just blindly supporting businesses, I do believe they have to stand on their own. BUT, renewable forms of energy are at such a huge disadvantage, without some sort of help they will never take hold and we will never get off this reliance we have on fossil fuels. It’s so much deeper than just tax breaks to big oil. Look at the trouble Maine has with electricity, so much is generated with natural gas and that is horribly expensive. Coal is what the midwest uses, and they in turn have much cheaper electric rates. Now the coal industry gets tax breaks, but they also get to ship their product in a way so cheap because of government operation, that they will always be ahead of the game. The fed built and pays to operate the nations river system, without the dams that tax dollars pay for the transport of coal would have to be through a much more expensive way. And how about big hydro, hell those big dams out west and in the tennessee valley were built by our parents and grandparents tax dollars, and now some states get to take advantage. I think in some cases, some temporary subsidies are necessary.
Some renewable sources of energy, like wood pellets, can hold their own. Others, like dispersed forms of wind and solar energy, are not nearly as feasible for commercial applications. Solar however is being applied in certain areas where the electric grid is not available. I support government sponsored research in renewable forms but not government sponsored commercial enterprises. That was tried during the Carter Administration and proved to be a colossal waste of tax payer money that did nothing to advance research. Generally, I think few subsidies give the tax payer a good return. Yet we can’t do away with a military, for instance, that provides an intangible service.
Im not sure of all that. I burn pellets. The year that the fuel oil went to 445 or whatever to fill my oil tank cost nearly 1400 bucks. I bought a pellet stove even tho I struggled to get the money together. My house is kept an an even temperature. It cost me between a half a bag and a bag and a half a day depending on the temp outside.I buy my pellets in the off season I paid 175 dollars per ton at the box stores.I have heated my house this year for a total cost of pellets at around 400 dollars. That would buy around 110 gallons of fuel . I dont care who says what and how you talk about it. You aint heating your house since oct for 100 gallons of fuel. Aint no way aint no how. I do this while people are crying about fuel in the middle of January. Im not sure how many people just moved to Maine or how people from here forget that winter times is coming. but winter comes here every year. It should be no surprise. I think a lot of it boils down to ambition. I hauled my pellets home in July. I have to carry my pellets from my storage building to my stove everyday. I have to clean and tend to my stove several times per day. While I am lucky to work close by I have to tend my stove around 3 jobs. I have to pick up my pellets at a store 25 miles away. Unload and store them. I have to clean the stove like clockwork after 4 days of use this is a complete shutdown cleaning . While its clearly easier to just turn up a dial you are held hostage by a severely fluctuating price in fossil fuel. I know it sucks to have to work a little bit to save and its easier to go on a camera with a local news channel for a telethon and cry about how cold it is and how the prices to high and cant afford it and need someone else to buy oil for them. Even take the news camera to the next room to log into a 3400 dollar Imac computer to show the news posts of other peoples plights. Not to mention the new car in the driveway internet costs etc etc … but to cry about it in the MIDDLE of January kinda pulls my chain. I put in the effort at my house so I can give fuel assistance to some people who one cant plan ahead and do not want to put in any work at all. If there is a program that could be funded by the government to help the working people so they can continue to afford to heat their house and still be able to get to work and pay takes so that those in Maine that sit back and say screw it I want oil.. Well I would say we best be behind it.. Sounds as tho you should be more than the people that are at least trying. If we could break a little of the dependance of oil maybe as a whole we could keep the price down.
Just curious- does this mean you have to fill the pellet stove once or twice a day or even more often ?
No .. My new stove will hold 80 pounds(2 bags) and on the lowest heat setting .. When the temp is 35 or more outside it will last 3 days. On the second heat setting when its between 15 to 30 degrees about 2 days on the 3rd setting which I would use if it was between 0 to 15 about a day and a half. On the 4th about a day temp would be below 0 outside.. Ive never used the 5th but I bet it wouldnt last a day on that setting. Its a Napolean NPS45… They run around 3 grand… i got mine one sale in July for 2 grand and it came with a free ton of Cornith pellets..Which I just started using my first bag today.. I have to say they burn good and do not leave a cake.. But a lot more fine ash… I prefer Energex, Or Fireside.. The best pellets I have got before which I havent seen in a couple of years was Blazer from Oregon.. Burned HOT and left almost no ash and no cake. Home Depot had those.. and there was a one called Winters Warmth from Home Depot..out of Georgia .. and man man they burned hot. But caked up … Havent seen those … Honestly Maine made pellets in general hasnt performed nearly as well as the ones that the box stores has been selling from other states.. I bet they have a deal with the boxes to promise to buy so many tons..Thats why the prices are better .. Supply is there and they can bank on a certain amount of sale and they have developed a better product. Maine pellets provide a fraction of the heat .. more ash and cst 20 to 40 % more … I got mine for 170 ton. Energex are Like 300 per ton and zCornith I think are around 260 per ton…
I agree with you on that. I have tried a numerous amount of brand pellets and East Corinth pellets and athens was not my choice . I have used this winter a pellet from Ashland Maine and the ash content and price is a heck of lot better than the two I just mention. For a hardwood pellet the pellet from out of state is got a good heat factor, Energex but has alot of ash. Best all around pellet is Ashland and the price is lower most cases. Actually the price of pellets should be lower, then it would have a great effect on the oil. But its just like anything else, when oil goes up, so does wood and everything else. Pellets are a bi product in my words and should be cheap to buy. Most cases these southern Pellet Mills are trying to re coop there fuel for delivering up north, just like the fuel deliveries do.
Good point about increasing oil costs affecting everything. It takes gas to haul any wood out of the forest and to produce these products. Biomass harvesting has been subsidized in the past, and what the government subsidizes are the fuel costs it takes to cut and haul the wood out. It wouldn’t have been profitable (or possible) for these biomass producers to operate without the subsidy.
Another federal government bailout. Simply brilliant. Let’s run America further into the ground by rewarding failure. It doesn’t matter WHO it is – the federal government doesn’t serve to bail out failing industries.
Great, another industry looking for a handout. Want to level the playing field? Then call for all sources of energy to immediately lose their subsidies. If they can’t stand on their own then there is no market for it. The taxpayers are tired of throwing money down these rat holes.
Absolutely the right approach, haddaysnight! Lose ALL subsidies.
Lol, ask the feds for something now, get a response from the EPA, DEP, and other “oversight” agencies five years later on how big a fine you owe them. Good luck!
Including TIF’s for natural gas? right on.
Start subsidizing this industry and see what happens. Not only does demand for pellets start to rise but so do prices. Right now those who heat with pellets are saving money when compared to those using oil as a heating source. That will no longer be the case when the price of pellets goes up artificially on account of government subsidies. So who ends up paying but the tax payer again for subsidies, besides current users of pellets.
I say, let the free market do what it best for all without unnecessary government intervention.
no more money ……Capitalism sink or swim .
but we can hand it out to welfare by the safe load lol … ll clue you in.. the country was born and breathes today on capitalism.. when that is dead… so is everything
1st of all I’m captain capitalism so your not clueing me in on the absolute overall superiority of capitalism over any of the alternatives.
Sink or swim. NO MORE GOVERNMENT involvement in business.
How about… NO MORE BUSINESS involvement in government? That’s what I’d like to see.
Honestly they need to produce to make money. Productions = income. I live in Maine and can’t get this brand where I live, why is that?
that i think is because we live in the other maine , i”m from G.I. too.
what brand are you referring?
I have to agree, pellets are just s much as oil, I have a pellet stove, but am thinking of changinG….does anyone have allergy problems with pellet stoves….if they want people to switch over bring down your ever lovin prices
I can heat my home for 1/2 of what I was paying with oil. The type and caliber of stove makes a vast difference if you can, or cannot heat your home w/a pellet stove. 5 years ago we paid 3200 for oil, next year we paid 350 for oil (our water is oil heated) and 1100 in pellets. Well worth the investment for us. But we bought a top of the line pellet stove. Buy a cheap stove, you get less output
With all the electric motors used in a pellet stove one must figure the extra cost for electricity in the equation. Mine is an extra 35.00 a month.
What about the ignitors, relays and circulator pumps on a oil fired furnace???
I liked You’re comment. But I have to disagree about the pellet stove. I bought my first stove an englander with the Busch tax bonus for around 1100 bucks. While it heated VERY well it did not have an ash pan and it did not hold a large amount of pellets. Not to mention the design was new so the lower augur had direct contact with the burn pot which meant it would creosote up and spin hard make noise and sometimes jam. I bought a Napolean that cost about 3 x more than the Englander. BIG ash pan holds 2 bags of pellets Perfect single augur design. The cleaning is a snap. Wider setting and a lot of glass that dosnt blacken up so fast. It dosnt heat nearly as well as the old englander. I really think it has to do with the amount of metal thats in it.. The Englander weighs almost twice as much. Dont get me wrong I prefer the new stove. I just think that you dont get the same heat pellet for pellet as I did from the old one.
Absolutely, if you are spending the same amount for pellets as oil; then, something is definitely wrong … Either the setup or the math …. Let’s just say for arguments sake that it is closer than some are claiming … I would still rather put my money down on a product made closer to home than liquid gold shipped across the ocean …. It’s not just a matter of giving money to the Middle East czars, but the money grubbing corporate leadership of our own Americans.
If you can’t sell your product, you gotta force the consumer to buy your product. And who is the best source to turn to? The Federal Government.
Here’s the thing: Liquid fuels deserve preferential treatment because they’re better. I have never once had to carry a 50-pound sack of fuel oil in from the truck or have the feed auger in my oil-fired furnace fixed.
“Liquid fuels deserve preferential treatment because they’re better. I have never once had to carry a 50-pound sack of fuel oil in from the truck”
One word… kerosene.
Better yet go with a geothermal heat pump and you don’t even need a delivery truck.
yeah right. At 35 thousand dollars for a normal installation. While I agree and have seen one in installed and they do heat very well.The cost per month is minimal to run. Like .. 20 cents per day for the electric. I think a guy could buy a butt load of pellets and oil for 35000 dollars.
I only had about $15k into mine, but I installed the ground loop myself.
Wow you did well. I have helped to install a couple of systems and one was 34k the other was closer to 40k.. Ill say if I could get one around your price I would seriously consider it. Its good heat isnt it?… no bills .. just a lil electric..Now if the government could get behind that we may just be getting someonewhere
There’s really no reason for it to cost that much if you have access to an excavator or backhoe. In 2005 I paid less than $10k for a 5 ton heat pump, circulators, HDPE piping, antifreeze, heat fusion tools, etc.. I hired the duct work out. I keep my house at 72 deg. all year round, including summers. Also, zero maintenance so far except for changing the air filter once a year. I guess the trick is not to use a system that requires any wells drilled, because that’s going to cost a lot of money.
Ok .. I own an excavator… Thats how I was familiar with the cost. I was hired by the company who installed the system to dig the trench to the house.. That was drilled with a well rig.. How do you do it without that?….
In my case I dug 5 trenches 250 feet long and 6 feet deep. Each trench had a 500 foot loop of 3/4in HDPE pipe heat fused to a header that led into the house. The wells are not necessary as long as you have an acre of land you don’t mind turning upside down.
This is a legitimate criticism. It’s like having to buy coal by the bag, 100 years ago. There needs to be an efficient distribution system with bulk trucks. Some of these are in service now. People just need to be set up with the vacuum piping to transfer the pellets to a dry storage bulk bin. It can be done.
You are right. Bulk delivery is the ticket. I think the major hold back is moisture control which is a huge issue with wood pellets. That is why there is a push for torrified wood pellets. The torrified pellets can essentially be mixed into a coal hopper with coal out in the elements and will still burn fine because they will not absorb moisture.
there is a system, it’s in infancy now, but there are companies in Maine installing furnaces, with large hoppers and they have trucks to deliver the pellets.
A little hard work is good exercise … Besides, I’ll lug a 50 pound sack by 10 pound increments (bucket) to absorb the savings ….. AND not send my money oversees for oil
even at over $220/ton they cost less than oil does. 4 tons of wood pellets knocked 400 gallons of oil off of my yearly usage. 4 tons cost $880. 400 gallons of oil (ill estimate low) 3.50/gal, 400 gallons of heating oil would cost $1400. I think oil is closer to 3.69-3.89 though. I dont know i haven’t had to buy any.
The heat is also alot better. My house is a constant temperature. No fluctuating like you have with a furnace. The stoves also work more efficiently if installed on the north wall. If all i have to do is lug one 40# bag a day to save 400 dollars that sounds like simple economics to me.
I got the same result Nick. I have a huge house, last 2 winter’s total I used 13 tons of pellets which cost about 2600 bucks, reduced the use of oil to a total of 400 gallons. so a season cost of less than 2 grand. The winter before I started using pellets I paid over 3 grand for oil, and that was when it was less than $2 a gallon! Got through the first half of a winter with 2 tons of pellets and almost no oil use. Thinking my next step is to get rid of the oil burner and get a pellet burning furnace and a hopper!
Pellets are cheaper, as a renewable source they are “green” and do not add long sequestered carbon to our atmosphere, the supply chain has improved drastically and they create local jobs!
except how do you think they make pellets ?by burning fossil fuels dummy ,we havent saved anything
How do you think they process / refine to make the oil or gas??? I would have an idea that there is some sort of “fossil fuel” used here?? It’s all relative …..
Exactly same as when they produce electricity its all done burning oil except of course with dams which were all paid for very low maintenance but the freaks wanna eliminate them and of course nuclear the cheapest of all we think we can save the world when we don’t even matter with our puny 300million population
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you sir/maam are the dummy. the more it is used, the more it advances, the more oil and gas are replaced by pellets and other renewable resources. it’s all just a matter of time, and when financial rewards are tied to the manufacture and use of renewable technologies, we will much faster be off the teet of big oil and gas.g
Dream on hasn’t work yet how is that mama scam solyndra and the other Obama mama billion dollar scams working for ya either make it on your own or get out of the way so someone else can
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I guess you don’t like fish.
Love fish that’s why they have fish ways they work
Sent from my U.S. Cellular Android device
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Do you suppose the lack of interest in Corinth pellets could be cost and quality? I tried to buy local but could not find a premium pellet at a decent price delivered. Corinth pellets were 235 a ton, Athens never answered my request for a quote. Finally bought premium pellets out of New Hampshire for 208.00 delivered. We don’t need government subsidy, we need more competition.
If the energy tax rebate program is reinstalled to include pellet boilers, you will see more people purchase these fine boilers. Right now the largest deterrent is sticker shock compared to the price of an oil or gas boiler. The difference is that a pellet boilers will “pay for itself” in four or five years compared to oil or gas. If more people get the pellet appliances, more people need pellets, production goes up…prices likely go down. The best part of it all is that we aren’t p*ssing our money away to the Middle East. It stays in the area. That’s what Mainers USED to think was important.
With most comodities when demand goes up price goes up. If the demand for oil goes up 10% the price almost doubles. I do not know how It will work with pellets .
The manufacturers are at 50% production. It takes little more energy to go to 100% production; but right now there is too much waste if they made that many pellets. Twice the pellets at half the energy costs=less expensive product.
It may be cheaper for them to make more . With almost all comodities it has little to do with the price of production it has everything to do with demand. You really think it cost a $100 a barrel to pump oil out of the ground. Oil companies show record profits when the demand is up.
I would agree .. Instead of wasting money on subsidies to the profit seekers, adjust the energy credits to include pellet stoves / boilers & even the pellets themselves.
coal is better.
Yes it is, especially with the new auto stokers that are on the market. A third again more heat per pound of coal versus pellets, no maintenance and the US has enough coal for the next 150 years. Not renewable but comes out of the ground ready to burn. No processing with additional fossil fuels.
I also burn wood in fall and spring because coal would heat alittle too much in that weather , I hardly burn oil unless i”m gone for a couple days , I”ve been on the same tank of oil for the passed 4 years ,I have to hand stoke mine but it is really worth it.
I’d hope they don’t have to go through the “Tea Party” for anything!
One of my relatives was using pellets from the Corinth manufacturer a couple years ago. There were corn kernels in with the pellets big enough that they bound up the auger and ruined the auger motor. The brand new stove was ruined by an inferior product in my opinion. The excuse/explanation she was given was that when changing from hardwood to softwood they run corn through to clear the equipment. I never did believe that story.
1 gallon # 2 heating oil 130,000 btu’s per gallon at $3.70. 1 40 pound bag pellets = 320,000 btu’s at 4.10 a bag. This figures out to be about half the amount per btu. Why not help put maine people to work using a green resource and help maine families heat there homes for less money.
Not sure where you get your info: One ton of wood pellets are equal to 120 gallons of heating oil . One ton of pellets is approx $250
The County..My bad! I missed a zero in your post , yes pellets are about half the cost of fuel oil. Instead of providing subsidies to the pellet manufacturers, the should provide tax rebates for stoves and installation. Also, Maine pellets generally are of lower quality and more expensive than others, shouldn’t be this way
120 gallons of heating oil is about $500, so still about half….
The Dept. of Agriculture has the funding and resources to get Maine’s wood pellet industry geared for the future. The University of Maine enineering Dept. is capable of developing the technology to drive this new market. This state is covered with a renewable energy so why not take advatage of the feds offer to help. Each county is capable of supporting a wood pellet facility which would make home heating much more affordable and help support the Maine workforce.
Even if we get the consumers for wood pellets, Maine and especially Corinth Wood pellets, need to work on the quality of the pellet. I have used many different products and the PA ones seem to run the best. I don’t even feel that Corinth is the best Maine product and I live in the town. Fortunately, my stove will burn the Corinth pellets and I buy them to support the local business.
That’s where the university comes in the picture. They spend million of dollars developing and perfecting wood fiber bridges for use on Maine highways. Why not take some of the millions of dollars the governemt spends around the country on research and let them perfect the wood pellet. The trees here in Maine grow like weeds and the only forestry know to the woods industry is the clearcut. Every ten years or so just let the wood machinery mow the forest with machines that produce the Maine Wood Pellet…the best damn wood burning pellet in the world. We get our homes heated more efficiently and cost effective because it’s subsidized by the USDA. The Canadians, I bet, have already beat me to this plan!
The price of a pellet stove verses a wood stove tells the whole story!
Personal welfare. Industry welfare. Corporate welfare.
Hey, I have a great idea! It won’t work in the free market, but by jeesus, give me some Federal dollars and I can float it for enough years to line my own pockets before it collapses!
Another industry looking for a handout…This isn’t capitalism…it’s socialism FOR businesses…only just with the giveaways, not the controls. All the rewards and no responsibilities. Pull all subsidies and see which companies can stand and which can’t…Let’s see how oil companies do w/o their tax breaks. Of course we know how they’d do…Their buddies in congress would just wink and smile as oil companies drove prices through the roof. How about busting up what amounts to a massive oil monopoly? There are about 4 oil companies out there and they’re all in bed with each other.
The government either needs to control businesses for the good of the taxpayer OR stop propping up businesses which can’t survive and only serve to increase prices for the taxpayer with no regulation whatsoever.
Credits, rebates, and bailouts will never replace old fashioned hard work. Part of the problem is – no one wants to work hard anymore to make themselves marketable. There is a reason that most bailouts are going to union run companies and green energy. They either are not in demand – or they offer an inferior product at highly inflated prices so the Teamsters or SIEU, etc can get a huge kickback. The federal government is becoming like organized crime in it’s politic favors to political donors.
And the biggest donors by far are not the unions. Get real here. the corruption rampant in government is from the Corporations and mega-rich who benefit the most from their puppet politicians, Democrat and Repub.
Unions are just as much to blame. Public Sector unions have bankrupted every State in the nation with benefit packages the private sector would die for. The federal government is bankrupt – they just continue to print money to offset the cost of high pensions for “public servants”. Look at the entire auto industry bailout and tell me that was a worthwhile return. Government Motors for instance. Or Chevy Volts that spontaneously combust built with taxpayer dollars. The problem is that people are using government for the wrong purpose. Our Constitutional Republic was NOT established to pamper people. It was structured to serve a limited role and maintain basic law order. Not personal or corporate welfare. We are a nation of spoiled rotten children on all levels. Our nation has no moral compass, no values, no collective desire to achieve. Many Americans are achievers – but it’s increasingly a class warfare battle between the “haves” and the “have nots”.
Sorry, but you are totally wrong. Unions don’t bankrupt anything. Corporate greed and coporate lobbyists a la Cheney and his oil buddies are what has brought down the country. Blaming union workers and the poor for our problems is just another corporate fairy tale.
Anymore, Ha-ha. Can you name one American industry or Business in history that did not grow and thrive on Government Largesse? Railroad right-of-ways, Indian Reservations, The Navy, Manifest destiny. A hundreds of years before there was any kind of Union at all rich white men were using the power of the government to line their pockets. The way it was and the way it shall be.
Businessmen don’t want big government, until they need big government.
The better pellet stoves can also burn corn and other things so you are not even restricted to one type of fuel.
This is my second season with Corinth, I’ve burnt others. My first batch was not the best and Corinth cheerfully replaced them with replacements and I have had no issue with the replacements except a bit more ash than the true premium . I will probably try another 6 ton this spring if the price is right. Let’s see what they quote.
Like Kylieoo said in their post, the price difference is what drives the market. Make it more affordable and people will buy it.
Businessmen don’t want big government, until they need big government.
If people talk to the different pellet stove retailers around the state they will quickly learn that the quality of the pellet is key. Maine has several pellet manufacturers and we are on out third.
We bought 2 tons manufactured by a western Maine manufacturer and the pellet size was so small that they burned quickly and gave off little hear. The other problem was the amount of sawdust in the bags caused the auger to jam twice. When I called the manufacturer they said “maybe it was the new dies” and they “hadn’t been cut in yet”. But after checking with several Bangor area dealers, I learned the manufacturer had a problem with the manufacturing process and the dies were crushing the pellets rather than pressing them. I know at least one local dealer no longer carries them.
We also tried a few bags from the manufacture west of Bangor and they seemed OK. But they had “supply” problems so never tried more than a few bags.
Now we are on our 3rd manufacturer of 100% hardwood and love them. Good quality. High hear output. Low ash. The stove glass actually stays clean for several days before “sooting” up. Again, learned of this brand and were they were available from our local stove supplier.
Were you bought your stove is the best source of information for Maine pellet manufacturers.
Im not sure of all that. I burn pellets. The year that the fuel oil went to 445 or whatever to fill my oil tank cost nearly 1400 bucks. I bought a pellet stove even tho I struggled to get the money together. My house is kept an an even temperature. It cost me between a half a bag and a bag and a half a day depending on the temp outside.I buy my pellets in the off season I paid 175 dollars per ton at the box stores.I have heated my house this year for a total cost of pellets at around 400 dollars. That would buy around 110 gallons of fuel . I dont care who says what and how you talk about it. You aint heating your house since oct for 100 gallons of fuel. Aint no way aint no how. I do this while people are crying about fuel in the middle of January. Im not sure how many people just moved to Maine or how people from here forget that winter times is coming. but winter comes here every year. It should be no surprise. I think a lot of it boils down to ambition. I hauled my pellets home in July. I have to carry my pellets from my storage building to my stove everyday. I have to clean and tend to my stove several times per day. While I am lucky to work close by I have to tend my stove around 3 jobs. I have to pick up my pellets at a store 25 miles away. Unload and store them. I have to clean the stove like clockwork after 4 days of use this is a complete shutdown cleaning . While its clearly easier to just turn up a dial you are held hostage by a severely fluctuating price in fossil fuel. I know it sucks to have to work a little bit to save and its easier to go on a camera with a local news channel for a telethon and cry about how cold it is and how the prices to high and cant afford it and need someone else to buy oil for them. Even take the news camera to the next room to log into a 3400 dollar Imac computer to show the news posts of other peoples plights. Not to mention the new car in the driveway internet costs etc etc … but to cry about it in the MIDDLE of January kinda pulls my chain. I put in the effort at my house so I can give fuel assistance to some people who one cant plan ahead and do not want to put in any work at all. If there is a program that could be funded by the government to help the working people so they can continue to afford to heat their house and still be able to get to work and pay takes so that those in Maine that sit back and say screw it I want oil.. Well I would say we best be behind it.. Sounds as tho you should be more than the people that are at least trying. If we could break a little of the dependance of oil maybe as a whole we could keep the price down.
Think the MBA schools need to add a new class BO-101 – How to Milk the Bailout Trend in USA. Seems to be the only path some of these ‘business leaders’ know.
Yes, I believe it has come to the time when it deserves its’ own classroom … right next to BS101
If your business wont stand on its own, tough close the doors,thats the way it works, no more graft!and secondly ,burning pellets aint saving the enviroment ,pellets are produced by burning fossil fuels and natural resources ,same as ethanol ,wasting our water(3 gals to every gallon produced) to produce something that cuts our gas mileage ,ruins the engines ,then they have to produce more engines burning guess what? fossil fuels in the process !wake up stupid !
Oh if you only realize the ramifications of what you have done.
Perhaps they could develop a wind mill on their site to improve their chances of a government hand out! Oh yeah and they could cut their energy cost as well…….LOL..oh what a laugh.
They would be so much smarter not to take a handout from the government , too many strings attached with that GIFT !
they call it a renewable fuel source which is true but what they fail to tell you is how long it takes to grow a hardwood tree before they can cut it again.when pellets first came about all the sawdust piles and slab piles around the country were going to be used up,then pellet makers found out that softwood sawdust and chips doesnt make good pellets so now they clear cut hardwood areas for their pellets and use little or no softwood dust or chips.in the north maine woods and other big forested areas,the animals will soon have to carry lunch boxes to cross the clear cut areas.
It is my understanding that the federal government has cut back and will soon eliminate ethanol subsidies. Now the Fed’s are considering subsidizing the wood pellet industry. When OBAMA leaves office the next President may not go in the same direction as OBAMA, then what. All the money OBAMA has thrown at alternative energy will have been a waste of time. Talk about stupibity….
Shameless plug for a great on line resource for wood burners and pellet burners . . . http://www.hearth.com. If you have questions about burning solid fuel (other than coal — there is another website for that but I forget the name right now) this is the place to go.
The big problem with pellet stoves is they need electricity to run. Power goes out, you’re out of luck.
What’s wrong with burning plain wood? Great heat, always on when power off, cook on it, etc., no fancy motors, and no industries whining that they want taxpayers money.
Also, as mentioned by a couple of other post-ers, it takes lots of oil to get those pellets made and to you: drag wood out of woods and deliver to factory, factory uses electricity fueld by oil and gas, water and machines fueled by oil or propane to make the pellets, pellets get bagged using up another resource, pellets get delivered to stores so people can drive to stores to buy them, drive home, load stove, make sure clean out every few days (my wood stove doesn’t need cleaning but once every couple of weeks), AND then the power goes out.
I think pellet stoves are terribly wasteful. With the price of oil going up, your pellets will go up, too, because they need so much oil to get manufactured, bagged, and delivered.
Just burn wood. Give your local woodsman work, instead of buying pellets from Pennsylvania or Lowe’s or Home Depot or wherever, when you know those pellets aren’t from Maine.
Good, local wood is the best and most environmentally sound way to heat your home. And when power goes out, your household can still cook, stay warm, heat water, etc.
I just don’t get the whole pellet stove scam – lots of people have been convinced to get into this, but it really doesn’t make sense.
I’m with you. I burn 5-6 cord a year. heats whole house. Have oil for back up and it also heats the hot water so i have to fill the tank once every couple of years. Costs $700 for heat and hot water for a year. Of course every 2 years i have to deal with a truck load of tree length wood to cut split and stack, but its done in 2 weekends and i take the next year off. Pellet stoves are a scam, they run constantly put out mediocre heat at best. Good luck with one when the power goes out for a week.
While I like you make a good point. I burned wood before the pellet stove and Ill tell ya that after going pellet I would never burn wood again. My house stay evenly heated.When you set it on whatever setting it stays a constant. Controlled burn no highs and lows. No cold stove waiting for it to warm back up. No over heating when the temp outside goes up. No smell. No wood mess inside or on the porch . No some wood burning diff than others. No wet wood. No battling local dealers to either deliver in the summer or in the winter . A cord of wood is what over 300 now?.. I dont know really havnt bought it in a while. I think wood is better to store inside. a ton of pellets is easier to store. No worrying about the stove if you step out.. My kid can lay a cheek on that stove about anywhere but the glass. almost zero clearance. While the exhaust pipe gets warm. by no means hot. I feel that a pellet stove is a million times safer .. I trust it on to leave. Very minimal mess inside or out. Unless you accidentally rip a bag carrying them in . WHich I have done. Fill it and forget it. While power is a true issue. I simply hook up a generator to the stove when the power goes out. I also feel that the plastic bags are not very eco friendly. You also have to pay attention to your storage and how long you have pellets stored. Over 16 months they will take on moister and well swell which WILL make your stove fail. But i swear by mine and I can heat my house for a quarter of the cost i can with oil
If it is such a great product, why are they shipping it overseas? What will be the cumulative impact on air quality if it has limitless potential? The purpose seems to be focused on making wood heat more “user friendly” without fully understanding long term implications and justifying more consumption; e.g. pellet stoves with conveyor systems. I envision a market for raised pellet beds.
Mr. Soffron and the rest of the management at Corinth!!!!!!!!! You need to market your product beyond the nice sign out front of your mile & 1/2 driveway. I live two miles up the road, but working in Bangor, as many do, your open hours to sell the product are so minimal that the purchase of your product cannot be made; even if I wanted to. You can only create the capacity to make more if you sell more product. Also, by creating the additional sales, you can produce more pellets which drives down the “cost per product” and ultimately creates that nice little word “profit” :)
Seriously, your wood pellets are the hardest to find to buy. I would have to add that quality is a large part of the issue. I burn them, when i can find them, to support the mill; but, they are not a superior product even here in the State of Maine. Too much ash … they burn hot … but, too much ash compared to many other products. Also, the size of them seems to be much larger than other products I have used. I have an Englander which seems to be able to burn just about anything, but I do know, as you do, that other stoves such as the Harmon cannot burn your pellets efficiently / properly.
I wish you success, but cannot support a subsidy thought process. We need to get away from that as a country. Build a superior product, market your own product & create your own client base … Just like the old fashioned way that built this county before we decided to sell it out.
Best wishes
I don’t know about the Harmon’s – never seen one, but my Harman can burn any pellet made even non-premium. There is not a Englander made that can hold a candle to, or burn a pellet better than a Harman
Their pellets are junk.
On average they say that 1 ton of pellets = 120 gals of oil. Oil just cost me 3.79 per gallon 120×3.79=454.80 1 ton of pellets cost me 215.00. it looks like you save about 50% for the same amount of heat producing materials. Also be advised that there has been a price increase in pellets just recently not sure what it was but there has been one. This is a good alternative heat source as long as it stays cost effective. This industry needs to stay the course and keep the government out of the picture.
How about subsidies for people to buy stoves and convert to pellets instead to giving it to the companies. Without more customers in a consumer driven economy how will giving the Fat cat CEOs more helpt any one but them…. ?
Next it will be windmill snake oil salesman holding out the hat. If we dont get money we will be forced to go out of biz. Boo Hoo Hoo help us. harddaysnight is right just another rathole. If pellets wont catch on in the most heavily treed state in the Union it wont fly any where else either.
Hay they sound just like the seafood industry !
now we have ” too small to fail,” too !!
Those Right wing bizness lobbies sure know how to set trends…
Wood pellets aren’t coming to my home anytime soon. Why? Because I have to buy a wood stove, buy pellets in bags I can’t lift and have no place to store, and I despise the smell of burning wood. As I see it, I can be gouged by the propane guys or the pellet guys. Either way, nobody is in business to put money in my pocket but to transfer it from my pocket into theirs.
All I can say is they better not mess with LePage’s kickback from the oil industry or he may get angry and shut down the Government !
we’re
from the government, and we’re here to help…do I have to say any
more? People if we want to build private business we need to get the
government out of the way, not invite them in to mess things up like
they always do, along with retarding the natural evolution of any business, and the scary thing is people
wonder why we are in a mess…I like to remind them government doesn’t
help fix problems, the usually are the cause of them, and if they get
involved in the pellet industry we can count on it, just like the bio
mass industry…we have 9 satilite plants subsidized mostly by the
government, with only three in business today…do I have to say
anything more?