September 2013 • 3
The Front Burner
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Administration (FMCSA) requires
strict compliance with Federal drug
and alcohol testing regulations for
motor carriers and drivers. Employers
in violation are subject to civil and
criminal penalties.
The NEFI Alliance Consortium si a
simple, quick and inexpensive solution
to this federal
ment.
require As a non-
profit group, the NEFI Alliance is able
to offer this comprehensive program
at a most reasonable cost.
Avoid severe fines…
Join today!
Mandatory Drug & Alcohol Testing
Regulations for Motor Carriers…
It’s The Law!
NEFI Alliance Consortium
238 Bedford Street, Suite 2
Lexington, MA 02420
For program information
and application information,
call 617-924-1000,
fax 617-924-1022, or
email
*Figures taken from Energy Information Administration’s “This Week In Petroleum.”
THE BAROMETER
Comparing Heating Oil to Other Financial Products
August 13, 2013
One Year Ago
No. 2 Fuel Oil/New York (dollars/gallon)
$2.939
$3.007
WTI Crude (dollars/barrel)
$106.78
$92.76
Brent Crude (dollars/barrel)
$110.69
$114.48
10-year Treasury Bill
2.71%
1.65%
30-year mortgage
4.40%
3.59%
Dow Jones Average
15,451
13,169
THE DIFF.
Spot Prices (Cents/Gallon) as of August 13, 2013*
New York Harbor
New York Harbor
U.S. Midcontinent
No. 2 Fuel Oil / Heating Oil
No. 2 ULSD
No. 2 ULSD
2.939
3.039
3.009
CEMA Battles Connecticut Natural Gas Expansion Plan
The Connecticut Energy Marketers Association (CEMA) is forging alliances to fight
a proposed $3 billion plan by the state’s natural gas utilities to convert nearly 300,000
oil and propane customers to natural gas over the next 10 years. CEMA reports that it is
working with the Office of Consumer Council (OCC), the Office of the Attorney General
(AG) and other interested organizations to fight as much of the expansion as possible.
OCC itself has already spent $200,000 on consultants to help them challenge the utili-
ties’ plan, which calls for ratepayer funding of the expansion without any shareholder or
company contribution, according to CEMA. The plan is currently under review by the
Connecticut Public Utility Regulatory Authority (PURA).
The state Attorney General, along with organizations like Environment Northeast
(ENE), will work to ensure that ratepayers are protected from uneconomic utility invest-
ments in infrastructure and that the environment is protected, CEMA reports.
CEMA itself has a three-part strategy to fight the utilities’ plan that involves working
with stakeholders like OCC, the Attorney General and ENE; working with the American
Energy Coalition to run radio and television ads in Connecticut; and involving CEMA
members in “hand to hand combat” neighborhood by neighborhood opposing all expan-
sion projects.
PERC Seeks to Relaunch Consumer Education
The Propane Education & Research Council (PERC) is seeking permission from the
U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) to recommence its consumer education programs.
The Propane Gas Association of New England (PGANE) reports that U.S. Reps. Peter
Welch (D-VT) and Jack Kingston (R-GA) have sent a “Dear Colleague” letter to every
member of the House of Representatives asking them to co-sign a letter to the DOC
requesting an end to the current restriction on consumer education.
PERC has asked its members to contact their Members of Congress and ask them to
sign on to the Welch-Kingston letter. “You uniquely understand that the Department’s
restriction on PERC causes customers not to be contacted, markets not to be opened,
clean fuel not to be sold, and jobs not to be created,” PGANE wrote to its membership.
DOC in 2009 restricted PERC from consumer education because a consumer-
protection clause in the Propane Education and Research Act of 1996 (PERA) had kicked
in. As a result, PERC was limited to efforts pertaining to safety and training and research
and development. With the prospect of resuming consumer education in mind, PERC has
begun discussions about launching a 2014 consumer education campaign and raising the
assessment rate on propane marketers from four-tenths of a cent per gallon of odorized
propane to five-tenths. A new consumer education campaign would likely focus on the
residential market and receive $10 million to $15 million in annual funding, according
to PERC.
