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ICPA's website has been updated with information on biofuels [bioheat and biodiesel], and now also contains two new searchable links so that consumers may find a local ICPA member dealer who sells biodiesel or bioheat. Any ICPA member retailer may have their name added to either or both of the listing services. For more information contact Gene at gene@icpa.org or toll free at 1-866-521-ICPA.
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On Tuesday the 29th ICPA was invited to participate in a Connecticut State Senate Democrats event highlighting their five point plan to have Connecticut fill in the gaps where any economic stimulus from Washington either left off or didn't end up being created. ICPA was invited by State Senate President Don Williams [D-Brooklyn]. Point #4 of the State Senate Democrats plan is a proposal to add $10 million to the already appropriated $5 million for Operation Fuel. Operation Fuel is a 501 [c] [3] charity that has assisted the needy with paying their energy bills since 1977. Operation Fuel spends the majority of its funding helping heating oil consumers pay their bills. Operation Fuel will pay for up to a full tank of oil this year per approved consumer. Operation Fuel pays the going rate for fuel deliveries and does not discriminate against any fuel vendor in price or reimbursement and generally pays in less than 10 days. ICPA became a partner with Operation Fuel by asking ICPA members to include consumer donation envelopes in their statements. It shouldn't be lost on anyone that State Senate Democrats decided to give $10 million in additional funding to a charity to help with paying energy bills - and not additional funds to the low income energy assistance program run by DSS. Part of this event, which included a statement made by David Foster from Wilcox Fuel in Westbrook, focused on our Operation Fuel partnership. ICPA also provided to the media a handout of an op-ed piece written by ICPA Executive Director Gene Guilford entitled, "The Other Connecticut." The piece highlights the difficulty many heating oil retailers are having this season with stretched credit lines and debt and the story of one such company in Eastern Connecticut. Please read this piece here. The Norwich Bulletin has said they will print this op-ed soon. For more information contact Gene at gene@icpa.org or Chris at chris@icpa.org or call ICPA toll free at 1-866-521-ICPA Environment Northeast
http://www.env-ne.org/In_The_News.htm
has been busy in the region with promoting legislation at the state level concerning climate change and
"cap and trade" programs.
For more information contact Gene at gene@icpa.org call ICPA toll free at 1-866-521-ICPA As
the General Assembly prepares to convene next Wednesday February 6th,
ICPA’s new Legislative Committee chair Tom Devine of Devine Brothers
(
In
preparation for the 2008 legislative session, the Office of
Legislative Research (OLR) which is a nonpartisan group that produces
reports for legislators who ask questions about issues that they may
be considering introducing legislation about has published a “major
issues” report identifying what they see as potential issues that
will be examined during the upcoming legislative session. Below
you will find a link to the entire report and excerpts of issues
related to the petroleum industry. http://www.cga.ct.gov/2008/rpt/pdf/2008-R-0022.pdf
Heating
Oil & Propane Contracts The
price of home heating oil and propane continues to increase and
homeowners are more concerned about how they are charged. There may be
a proposal to require new contracts between heating oil and propane
gas dealers and their residential customers to be written in plain
language and include all terms, conditions, and charges. Gasoline
Prices The
General Law Committee has studied gasoline price issues for many years
and prices continue to climb. The price of a barrel of crude oil
recently topped $100 for the first time. The legislature may consider
prohibiting gasoline companies and distributors from setting their
prices to dealers based on the dealers’ locations. This practice,
known as “zone pricing,” is common in the industry. It may also
consider other Energy
Assistance Program Shortfalls The
federal government administers the Low Income Home Energy Assistance
Program (LIHEAP), which provides states with block grants to help
low-income people pay their winter heating bills. Federal LIHEAP Greenhouse
Gases Several
state environmental groups will push for legislation requiring the
state to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 10% below 1990 levels
by 2020 and by at least 80% below 2001 levels by 2050. This Members can read the results we achieved in the 2007 Session, and the Agenda we have for the 2008 Session, by going to the ICPA website, Member's Only Section, here> http://www.icpa.org/protect/agenda.htm For more information contact Chris Herb at chris@icpa.org or toll free at 866-521-ICPA. A number of heating oil retailers continue to report issues with fuel oil quality, most related to clogged filters and sludge. Ed Guarco of State Line Oil in Granby is the chair of the ICPA Fuel Quality Task Force and ICPA has arranged with DOE's Brookhaven National Lab to have samples tested. If you run into issues with fuel quality please contact Ed at 860-653-7241 or by email at Eguarco@aol.com. These tests and samples are done in confidence and only to try to pinpoint the likely source of the problem. Ed's committee is likely to have a recommendation for a fuel oil spec change before the end of 2008.
This week ICPA was asked by NEFI and PMAA to contact our Congressional delegation encouraging support for an amendment offered by Senator Bernie Sanders [Communist-VT] to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act moving through the Senate. David McIntosh, legislative aid to Senator Lieberman advised a better approach was to amend the recently constructed "stimulus plan" that has passed the House, to include additional LIHEAP funding for FY08. ICPA has contacted Connecticut's Congressional delegation encouraging support for expanding the House-passed version of the stimulus package to include additional funding for low income energy assistance for this year. PMAA and NEFI are in Washington this week with the National Fuel Funds Network lobbying Congress on this issue. There are 84,575 recipients of low income energy assistance in the State of Connecticut, according to the Connecticut Department of Social Services. Most of these consumers have already been through their average $400 basic benefit, and their average $400 crisis benefit, and now are in their safety net benefits and this is the end of January - we have all of February, March and at least half of April to go. NCWM DELAYS VOTE ON TEMPERATURE CORRECTION UNTIL JULY OF 2009 The
National Conference on Weights and Measures (NCWM) has decided to not
schedule an official vote on retail temperature compensation in 2008.
The next possible official vote will be in July 2009. EPA PONDERS NEW RULE ON GREENHOUSE GASES U.S. EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson told lawmakers on Capitol Hill last week that the agency plans to issue a rule in the near future to address greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles and motor fuels. Testifying before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Johnson would not say when the rule would be ready or what it would contain. The EPA is under a court order to determine whether such emissions pose a danger to public health and welfare. If the EPA finds a danger to exist, then control measures will be developed for both vehicles and motor fuels. The agency has already missed a self-imposed deadline to make the determination and draft the rule, prompting threats of lawsuits from environmental organizations and more than a dozen state air authorities. [PMAA] SENATORS ASK FOR HALT TO SPR FILLS Expressing concern over soaring fuel prices, Senator Joseph Lieberman (I-CT), Chairman of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee asked the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) last week to stop diverting crude oil from the consumer market to the nation’s strategic petroleum reserve (SPR). The DOE plans to acquire 13 million barrels of crude during the first six months of 2008 to add to the existing 700 million barrels already held in the SPR. In a letter to Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman, Lieberman with Senators, Susan Collins (R-ME), Carl Levin (D-MI) and Norm Coleman (R-MN), said continued filling of the SPR will reduce supply and increase prices on both the wholesale and consumer levels. The letter cited the Energy Policy Act of 2005 that requires DOE to "avoid incurring excessive cost or appreciably affecting the price of petroleum products to consumers" and "avoid adversely affecting current and futures prices, supplies, and inventories of oil" when procuring crude for the SPR. [PMAA] For more information contact Gene at gene@icpa.org call ICPA toll free at 1-866-521-ICPA
An Introduction to Temperature
Correction - February 12, 2008 - 10.00am to 12noon - ICPA This briefing will be conducted by the top national expert on temperature correction for petroleum products, Ross Anderson of the NY Bureau of Weights and Measures. It is an introduction to temperature correction specifically for heating oil retailers. You will understand how temperature correction works and why it is used to correct for expanding and contracting fuel oil volumes due to temperature; how to evaluate wholesalers who correct for temperature and those who use a shrinkage factor instead of temperature correcting; and your options in selling temperature corrected fuel oil to your customers. Register online: http://www.icpa.org/store/products_view.php?url_product_id=381 For more information contact David Chu at chu@icpa.org or call toll free at 866-521-ICPA.
eCashflow
Systems - Bounced Check Protection
For more information contact David Chu at chu@icpa.org or call toll free at 866-521-ICPA.
For more information contact Gene at gene@icpa.org or call ICPA toll free at 1-866-521-ICPA
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