One of the major challenges that face propane companies in the Willamette Valley is supply doing a cold winter. Unlike natural gas which has a pipe line system that feeds its customers, propane has to be transported from refineries by truck or train. The closest refinery to our area is 300 miles north in Washington or 500 miles south in California. The refinery in Northern Washington does not have the propane production to supply both Washington and Oregon if there is high demand. This can leave many of our competitors scrambling for fuel and even out of gas for several days. In the winter of 2017 there was a propane shortage in the Willamette valley leaving many of our competitors without propane for their customers. This was not the case at McMinnville Gas. Over the 73 years of being in business we have made a substantial investment in our storage. With our rail terminal in McMinnville and our other satellite facilities we have roughly 300,000 gallon of storage which is more then any other company in the area. Even though it has come at a high cost to build, permit and insure such facilities, in the State of Oregon, we have always felt that weather is not an excuse for not having propane for our customers. We also have made a large commitment to our service department so we can keep customers propane appliances running during the winter. Anybody can buy a couple of propane trucks slap a logo on them and deliver the product. Having the infrastructure to assure your customers will have propane during a cold snap is a different story.
Sincerely, John Buller and Sons