Consumers Energy says there's plenty of natural gas.
But in the thumb of Michigan, there are not enough pipelines - and that led to an unusual request from the company on Thursday.
Consumers asked farmers who use natural gas-fueled blowers to dry their grain to temporarily hold off on the activity during daylight hours.
Consumers Energy spokesman Dan Bishop says an unusually late harvest combined with an unusually early cold snap to create the spike in demand.
He says the utility is in talks with elected officials about plans to build new pipelines to the thumb area of the state.