VFDA Fuel Line Newsletter | Vermont Business Magazine

Submitted by tim on Wed, 11/27/2019 - 21:59

Strike Over

Vermont Fuel Dealers Association A tentative agreement has been reached with the 3,200 Canadian National rail employees who were on strike for more than a week. CN employees returned to work yesterday afternoon. Delays are expected as the surge of backlogged traffic works its way through the rail network. It will take some time before everything gets back to normal. In collaboration with NPGA, PGANE and our state association partners, VFDA is still working on a regional waiver for propane transports from federal hours of service regulations in response to the logistical issues posed by the work stoppage.

Tank Memo

The Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation issued a guidance document (found here) which urges fuel dealers to suspend routine inspection of tanks until after the winter is over. Please note that this is not a suspension of inspections on first fills for new customers or first fills on new tanks. The document also provides clarification on hand filling tanks that have been red tagged. More information about Vermont's AST Regulations can be found at vermontfuel.com/tank.

Tanks

The 2019 VFDA Tank Rebate Program is closed. Since 2018, VFDA and NORA have helped more than 800 Vermonters get a new oilheat tank by distributing over $200,000 in rebates. Our goal is for all Vermonters to have their tanks inspected to ensure they are safe and meet Vermont’s AST regulations. Go to vermontfuel.com/tank to learn more.

1740 degrees days have been recorded in Montpelier since July 1. That’s 4% more than the ten year average but about the same as last year.

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VFDA Training: Get Certified, Stay Certified.

Propane/Natural Gas Continuing Education — December 11 — Rutland Class full.

Propane/Natural Gas Continuing Education — January 8 — Williston

Basic Oilheat Tech Training — February — Rutland

Propane CETP Series — March — Montpelier

Propane/Natural Gas Continuing Education — March 27 — Berlin

Basic Oilheat Tech Training — May — Montpelier

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News of Note

There are more 50 city governments across the country contemplating regulations that would ban the use of of fossil fuels. Residents of Brookline Massachusetts voted earlier this month to ban natural gas, propane and oilheat on all new construction and renovations.

Scientists have yet to discover, and entrepreneurs have yet to invent, anything as remarkable as hydrocarbons in terms of the combination of low-cost, high-energy density, stability, safety, and portability. Batteries aren’t the solution. At least not yet. The annual output of Tesla’s Gigafactory, the world’s largest battery factory, could store three minutes’ worth of annual U.S. electricity demand. It would require 1,000 years of production to make enough batteries for two days’ worth of U.S. electricity demand. Meanwhile, 50–100 pounds of materials are mined, moved, and processed for every pound of battery produced.

Tesla claimed its pickup truck was 'bulletproof' — then smashed its windows with a metal ball.

Vermont’s Commerical Vehicle Enforcement Unit inspected hundreds of trucks last week. Go to vermontfuel.com/crash to check out the latest incident report and find out who got stopped and for what.

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News from DC

A provision extending the $1 per gallon biodiesel tax credit (BTC) through 2021 was included in the Growing Renewable Energy and Efficiency Now (GREEN) Act proposed by House Democrats earlier this month. The provision also provides for a retroactive extension of all sales from Jan. 1, 2018, to the date of enactment. Should the GREEN Act pass through, the biodiesel tax credit would go down each year from $1/gal to 75-cents to 50-cents to 33-cents before it is phased out in 2025.

The Fuels Institute recently released a literature review of the environmental impact of electric vehicles as compared to an internal combustion engine titled “Supercharged: The Environment Impact of Electric Vehicles.” The report notes that while an EV does not have tailpipe emissions, its production and operation still produce significant global climate change emissions due to such factors as the source of electricity charging the battery, energy usage and the efficiency of the vehicle, and manufacturing and production. Overall the report concludes that there are numerous variables that drive the environmental impacts and that “there is no consensus break-even set of conditions that need to occur in order to realize the environmental benefits that the public attributes to the adoption of EVs.” The environmental benefits of EVs are predicated on widespread build-out of infrastructure, electricity generated by renewables, and other variables that can impact carbon emissions. Click here to download the study.