Five years ago, I installed a wood pellet stove as an alternative to my oil furnace because of the high price of oil. At that time, heating oil was more than $3 per gallon and a 40-pound bag of wood pellets was $2.30.

Today, oil is somewhere around $1.75 per gallon and a 40-pound bag of pellets is about $6. People can do the math.

This year, I will be turning up the thermostat on my oil furnace and let my pellet stove rest.

I hope the pellet manufacturers have a lot of storage space because I have a feeling they are going to need it.

Last year, I believe a shortage of pellets was just a way to increase prices to the level they are now.

I believe that is going to backfire, just like what happened to the oil companies when they raised heating oil prices and hurt millions of people who were already struggling from paycheck to paycheck.

New Englanders know how to adjust when prices go through the roof.

Phillip Webber, Lisbon