and Training
For the latest updates check out
____________________
has yet to move into the building.
Public safety officials across the northeast are concerned that house fires could possibly increase during the colder months because homeowners might improperly install pellet or other types of stoves and not be attentive while using space heaters. While pellet stoves have become popular, some homeowners are not receiving the proper permits and in some cases the stoves are not being installed correctly. Click here to read more.
Searsburg Wind Turbine
It is unclear when, or even if, the nonfunctioning turbine will be
back to full capacity.
As oil prices zoomed toward an unheard of $147 a barrel this summer, it seemed every analyst prediction that oil would approach $200 was a self-fulfilling prophecy, until suddenly it was not. Soaring prices for oil and other commodities this summer have turned out to be nothing short of another classic bubble, and the bursting may not be over, one analyst said Monday. "It's just amazing that the market gets suckered into this," said analyst Stephen Schork of the Schork Report, who called the idea of $150 a barrel oil "an obscene number, a perverted, illogical number." Goldman Sachs, among those predicting $200-a-barrel oil, cut its year-end forecast of oil to $70.
CONTACT VFDA
802-223-7750
info@vermontfuel.com
5.1 BILLION IN FEDERAL LIHEAP FUNDING RELEASED
Largest Federal Funding Release Ever
Vermont will receive $36 million—nearly triple the allocation from 2007–2008. Despite the massive increase in federal funding and the drastic decline in price, state officials are considering “leveraging” techniques to even further lower the per gallon price paid to fuel dealers this upcoming heating season. One year ago, state officials began re-examining how heating assistance is delivered in Vermont. Leveraging proposals such as Margin-Over Rack and Discount-Off-Retail were proposed and rejected. What will happen this heating season is still unclear. Fund transfers which normally are distributed on November 1st will be delayed until November 17th.
Citizens Energy/CITGO Oil Program is shipping postcards this week to inform heating oil dealers on this year's program. According to the postcards, this year's program will be offered in 17 states and will introduce a "new and improved" online account management system that will allow for online access to electronic funds transfers. The program is scheduled to begin on January 5, 2009. More information can be found at (www.citizensenergy.com) or by calling The Dealer Hotline 1-800-866-4591
VFDA has compiled helpful information about heating assistance in Vermont on our website at vermontfuel.com
State Seeks Contractor for Heating Fuel Study
The
Vermont Department of Public Service (DPS) will spend $15,000 in
taxpayer money to study residential heating fuel availability,
potential for home fuel diversification, new or emerging technologies,
and market leveraging strategies. The study will analyze everything
from the benefits of forming large buyers' groups, to the viability
of alternative fuels. VFDA will closely examine the
study’s methodology to ensure that the contractor hired by the state
understands how a competitive marketplace benefits the consumer.
Contracts, Budgets and Prebuys
Several media reports quote homeowners and local governments who want to renegotiate or abandon contracts because prices are lower now than they were earlier this summer. Under Vermont Act 210, dealers are required to buy at least 75% of the gallons sold. If retailers entered into a contract with a consumer when prices were higher, they also purchased wholesale contracts at those higher prices. Wholesalers typically don’t allow retailers to renegotiate their supply agreements, which is why retailers cannot do the same for their customers. If the circumstances were different—and the price had gone up $1—the retailer is required by law to honor that contract. While prebuys have historically been a good deal for the consumer, they are not a guarantee of savings. The retailer must honor the contract therefore, so does the consumer.
BIOHEAT® Impact on Environment
VFDA Executive Director Matt Cota was one of the speakers at the Renewable Energy Vermont conference in Burlington on October 15. Cota unveiled a recent study conducted by ICF International, a professional services firm that is recognized worldwide as having expertise in energy, climate change and the environment. The "Resource Analysis of Energy Use and Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Residential Boilers for Space Heating and Hot Water," is a comprehensive study covering emissions and efficiency related to natural gas, heating oil and biofuels in the context of a full fuel cycle analysis. The report is an unbiased analysis of emissions and efficiency related to home heating fuels over the entire course of each fuel's life cycle (wellhead to burner tip). When used in conjunction with ultra low sulfur and biofuel products, heating oil holds a clear advantage over natural gas (NG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) in both efficiency and reduced emissions. B20 [BioHeat®] can have up to 12 percent lower GHG emissions than LNG, the marginal natural gas supply option for the Northeast.
Learn more at www.vtbio.org
VFDA and its partners, NEFI and PMAA, succeeded in our efforts to classify home heating fuel retailers with less than 50 employees as small businesses in order to obtain loans from the Small Business Administration. These loans are now even more important than ever given the current credit crisis. The details of these programs were presented at VFDA’s Front Office Seminar for Fuel Dealers in August. You can access the materials presented at the seminar on our website at www.vermontfuel.com.
VFDA Patch Chit Split the Ticket Campaign
Vermont's home heating fuel retailers are mostly small second or third
generation family businesses. The name on the side of the truck is
quite often the name of the person inside the truck or in the front
office answering the phone. These small businesses which are so
critical to Vermont's economy are impacted by the credit crunch.
Customers have long treated their home heating fuel company as the
second bank in town. Those days are quickly disappearing because the
credit risk is simply too great.
Despite these difficulties, heating fuel companies continue a proud
tradition of giving back to the communities where they work and live.
The Vermont Fuel Dealers Association's Patch Chit "Split the Ticket"
campaign is one of the many ways dealers are helping out. For over 20
years, the program has been used as a statewide safety net to address
the emergency fuel needs of low-income Vermonters. Visit vermontfuel.com to learn how you can help.
"We would like to thank you for the donation of fuel for our parents. They are being put through some great trials right now and having heat at home was very helpful. They never asked for help before and it was tough for them. Your program is a wonderful thing, keep on the great work you do during a tough time for fuel companies too! We really appreciate it!”
NEWS FROM WASHINGTON
Government Accountability Office (GAO) released its study on automatic temperature compensation (ATC) at the retail level. The GAO compiled information for the report from the National Conference on Weights and Measures (NCWM), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), consumer advocacy groups, and from industry representatives. With the majority of retail gasoline stations owned by small independent businesses, implementing ATC would not benefit the consumer and would be another cost that small business owners would have to bear in a market where credit is scarce. Although industry representatives argued that the costs associated with ATC implementation would be passed on to consumers, GAO reported that the costs to implement ATC are unclear. The state of New Hampshire allows temperature compensation for heating oil, Vermont does not.