Owners of pellet stoves finding fuel in short supply

Dean Scarborough drove out of Backyard Billy's in Grasonville with a truck full of wood pellets to burn in his stove, but not before he'd called a half-dozen places around the region to find them.

The Annapolis man is among thousands of pellet stove owners struggling this season to find bags of their exotic home heating fuel. Industry experts blame the shortage on a post-Hurricane Katrina panic.

"It's infuriated me," Mr. Scarborough said. "I understand fuel and propane, but this is an alternative energy source. It's biomass. I'm flabbergasted."

Convinced that natural gas and heating oil prices would skyrocket and the...