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University of Connecticut Research Institute analyzed the Fitch
Fuel Catalyst in the lab and in the field and confirms that:
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A
molecular reformulation
passing thr
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This
reformulation positively affects the combustion
within the f
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The averag
reveals
6.7% to 36% reduction in fuel consumption,
with an average of 14.8%
across all installations.
Ü
Residential installations tended to yield greater reductions,
averaging
20.3%, versus commercial installations,
which averaged 14.0%.
s INFO FITCHFUELCATALYST COM
of the fuel takes place when
ough the Fitch Fuel Catalyst.
urnace, enabling a reduction in nozzle size.
e user in observed and historical instances
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reliability, service and the personal nature
of the people you’re dealing with. When
you need something, do you go to the local
Ace hardware store, or do you go to Home
Depot and wander the aisles for an hour
and a half trying to find someone to help
you? If you want the cheapest price, that’s
the experience you get. That’s the best thing
the heating oil industry has going for it:
the highly personalized purchasing experi-
ence.”
M<IDFEK G@G<C@E< ><KJ >I<<E C@>?K
In Vermont, the natural gas infrastruc-
ture is expanding with recent approval by
the state Public Service Board of Vermont
Gas’s proposed pipeline from Burlington to
Middlebury. Matt Cota, Executive Director
of the Vermont Fuel Dealers Association
(VFDA), said Vermont Gas could pick up
as many as 3,000 fuel conversions along the
new route.
“What swayed the Public Service
Board was an economic argument based
on assumptions about the disparity of fuel
prices. As we all know, predictions about
commodity prices haven’t been borne out,
but [natural gas advocates] were making a
claim that couldn’t be disproved or proved,
and based on the political climate that was
enough to get the pipeline passed.”
With the first extension approved,
Vermont Gas is now pursuing a second
pipeline extension that would traverse
Addison County from Middlebury to serve
the International Paper Co. plant in Ticon-
deroga, N.Y. The extension would include a
pipeline built under Lake Champlain, which
straddles the Vermont-New York border.
The utility is also expected to seek
approval for further southward expansion
to the city of Rutland. “The big prize for
them is Rutland, where they think they can
access another 13,000 accounts,” Cota said.
Unlike the utilities in Connecticut
and New York, Vermont Gas succeeded
in having its expansion costs paid by rate-
payers by means of a rate surcharge. “The
price of the pipeline at $2 million per mile
is being borne by existing ratepayers,” Cota
explained.
VFDA has seen very little apprecia-
tion of the heating oil industry from state
officials. “We have not seen any effort to
recognize that [natural gas expansion] will
have negative economic consequences on
the heating oil infrastructure,” Cota said.
“When [tropical storm] Irene hit, it was
the fuel dealers who provided the oil and
propane that kept the hospitals and gen-
erators and backhoes going so that Vermont
could recover. This infrastructure is not a
problem that needs to go away; it’s a vital
part of Vermont’s sustainability. It should
not be sent packing because of a blip in
commodity pricing.”
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In Maine, the state government is
strongly encouraging natural gas expansion
but has not rolled out any state-supported
expansion plan.
Instead,
the state
Legislature has authorized the state Public
Utilities Commission to pursue collabora-
tive arrangements with other jurisdictions
that would bring more natural gas to
Maine, according to Jamie Py, President of
the Maine Energy Marketers Association.
The Legislature has also authorized bonding
to help pay for natural gas expansion, but
no bonds have been issued.
“We opposed this completely with the
argument that the state is stepping in where
private enterprise should be left alone,”
Py said. Maine needs its deliverable fuel
infrastructure, because fuel dealers are vital
providers who step up when the utilities
can’t meet demand. In recent weeks, several
Maine mills that fuel their operations with
natural gas had to discontinue operations
and furlough workers because natural gas
price spikes made their operations uneco-
nomical.
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