While the wood pellet shortage is causing cold sweats as winter approaches, a number of consumers have just come together to create an association. Objective: organize grouped orders to make stock at a reasonable price. And why not, in the long term, bet on local manufacturing.
It only took a few phone calls and a bit of word of mouth to gather around twenty users in just a few days. And that’s probably just the beginning. Because there is great concern among users of wood stoves about not having enough fuel to heat themselves this winter.
In fact, shortages are increasing in the trade. And when pellets are available, their price tends to skyrocket to €8-12 per 15-kg bag, when traditionally this price ranged between €4 and €5.
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Today, we are in such an emergency situation that some do not even know how they will keep warm this winter. We encourage you to stock up. But bags are getting more and more expensive and not everyone necessarily has a place to store 50 of them”, emphasizes Gérard Poujade. The Mayor of Sequester is one of two elected officials behind this project with Jean-François Rochedreux, Mayor of Saliès.
“Why not go into local production?”
“We are both users and we told ourselves that we had to find solutions to help our fellow citizens cope with this shortage,” explains the latter. The approach gave rise to the Tarn Pellet Granules Association, whose founding general meeting took place earlier in the week. The two elected are the co-chairs.
The objective, initially, will be to federate consumers, to give them more weight in their offers. For example, organizing group orders, which will allow obtaining pellets at more attractive prices. “We will also give each other good advice, to know where to find pellets and where to buy them cheaper”, adds Gérard Poujade. Another way: the storage spaces of the swimming pool so that those who do not have room at home can accumulate reserves despite everything.
The association already has a page Facebook to allow all those who wish to join him. To become a member, you have to give your lastname name, physical address, email, rate your selfannual care (in number of bags) and its Storage capacity.
“We will try, first, to bring people together, to build credibility and then, why not, finally, to go further, to embark on local production,” says Jean-François Rochedreux.
The Tarn lends itself to this, with its large wooded areas. And yet, despite all the forests present in its territory, our department continues to import wood. A paradox that the two elected officials find difficult to understand.