Fuel POlicy
expansion in natural gas at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Energy
Committee in April. Moniz called the
surge in natural gas production a "revolution" that has lowered energy costs for
manufacturers and others and resulted in
a decline in U.S. carbon emissions to their
lowest levels since 1994, the newsletter
reported.
In his annual budget request, also
in April, the president asked Congress
to reduce funding for the federal Low
Income Home Energy Assistance Program
(LIHEAP), the Fuel Institute reported in
its newsletter. The president requested
$3.02 billion for LIHEAP, a 13 percent
($450 million) cut from last year, the
newsletter reported, noting that it was the
fourth budget in a row in which the president proposed reducing fuel assistance.
Fuel oil dealers who want to keep up
with these and other issues can do so by
visiting websites such as those of Fuel Oil
News, NEFI and their respective state associations.
Meanwhile, the contentiousness in
Connecticut is prompting Herb to raise
an alarm and a rallying cry. He told the
service professionals' group that the state's
plan included a proposal to help some
3,000 heating oil customers convert to
natural gas.
A bill in the Connecticut State House
calls for amortization of the cost of converting a residence to natural gas, Herb
said. "Your customers don't get twentyfive years to pay for new equipment, do
they?" he asked the OESP members.
Another proposal, in which the state
would have levied a three-and-a-half
cent per gallon tax on home heating oil,
was defeated through the efforts of the
Marketers Association and others, Herb
said.
Al Breda, president of the National
Association of Oil & Energy Service
Professionals, and service manager for
Sippin Energy Products in Monroe,
Conn., said, "The state is taking taxpayer
money and giving it to the gas utilities to
make it easier for people to convert." The
state proposal would allow consumers to
finance conversions "over many, many
years with no down payment," Breda said.
"We're not afforded that luxury," he said
of the fuel oil industry.
"If I'm going to put an oil burner in
your house and charge you seven, eight
thousand dollars, you've got to have a
down payment and get a payment plan,"
Breda said. "It's extremely unfair."
The Comprehensive Energy Strategy
for Connecticut, detailed by Gov. Malloy
in February in a statement, aims to bring
down energy costs for both residents and
businesses.
www.fueloilnews.com | FUEL OIL NEWS | MAY 2013
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