Wood pellets are a real heating fuel: Their price is now officially tracked alongside oil, gas, propane

CONCORD – In a sign of continuing inroads made by wood pellets in the state, their price is now being tracked by the New Hampshire State Office of Energy and Planning, alongside traditional heating fuel sources such as oil, natural gas and propane.

The information about average statewide costs for bulk-delivered fuels is derived from a survey of five companies providing bulk pellet delivery service in New Hampshire. It shows that wood pellets are far cheaper than heating by heating oil or propane, although more expensive than natural gas.

This week, one million BTU’s of heat cost: natural gas ($13.50), cord wood ($17.50), wood pellets ($18.03), No. 2 heating oil ($34.97), kerosene ($39.56), electricity ($41.50) and propane ($46.86).

Pellets are made from compressed sawdust. Their uniform size and shape allows their delivery into a furnace to be automated, as compared to logs, so that heating can be controlled by thermostats, as with fossil fuels.

Although best known as a source for individual stoves, pellets or a similar product, wood chips, can be fed by augers into whole-house boilers or industrial-sized machines that can heat schools or factories.

The region’s biomass producers say pellets and wood chips could ultimately provide up to 20 percent of New Hampshire’s heat, compared to the current figure of about four percent.

The industry claims that nearly 5 percent of New Hampshire homes heat with wood pellets or other renewable energy. Heating uses nearly 40 percent of New Hampshire’s energy.

The federal Stimulus Funds Rebate Program is kick-starting the switch to wood pellet central heating in homes by offering rebates of up to 30 percent or up to $6,000 of installed cost for systems for primary residences.

Information about the residential wood pellet rebate program is on the Public Utilities Commission web site: www.puc.nh.gov.