JUNE VOL.78 NO.06
Editor's Note
EDITORIAL STAFF
Editorial Office
1030 W. Higgins Road
Suite 230
Park Ridge, IL 60068
847/720-5600
A Win in
Connecticut
Keith Reid
A
central focus of the magazine is
to push for the legislative involvement of its readers in issues that
are near and dear to their hearts. If
you, who have the most to win (or usually lose) won't stand up and fight, who
will?
Chris Herb, the interim president of the
Connecticut Energy Marketers Association
just congratulated his members on helping defeat the most onerous provisions of
some state legislation. As he noted:
Nine months ago the Department
of Energy and Environmental Protection
(DEEP) proposed their Comprehensive
Energy Strategy (ie. energy plan). The goal
of the energy plan was to convert 300,000 of
our customers to natural gas with the use
of taxpayer money. The plan also called
for a first ever tax on heating oil along with
the expansion of 900 miles of new gas line
throughout the state….
Today, the energy bill that we asked you
to contact your State Representative about
passed. The bill contained NO taxpayer subsidy for your customers to convert to natural
gas, NO state money to pay for the extension
of 900 miles of new gas lines and NO tax on
home heating oil or propane!
While that bill contains some language
that we are not in favor of, we accomplished
our primary goal of keeping taxpayer money
off the table when it comes to natural gas
expansion and conversion in Connecticut!
6
A lot of credit goes to CEMA staff and
the staff of its partner in the fight, the
Propane Gas Association of New England.
As we at Fuel Oil News will always point
out, association staff is indispensible as
the foundation and support body for such
efforts. But the real power in fighting the
fight rests in the hands of the industry
members themselves. As Herb notes:
This evening I met with the legislative
leadership in the House of Representatives,
and I was told that it is directly attributable
to the work of the many family owned heating oil dealers and their employees, that the
use of taxpayer money or state funds did not
make it into the energy bill or the budget... .
We have a lot more work to do and our
challenges are many, but I firmly believe that
our association, when we speak with one
voice, can accomplish great things! Thank
you for your support and the effort you put
into this issue for nearly a year.
Congratulations for a great job,
CEMA. But an even greater accolade
goes out to the heating oil and propane
dealers and marketers in Connecticut
for fighting the fight. Witout you, the
favorable results would have been in
serious jeopardy. Thanks to your efforts,
your customers can choose their own
heating fuels without artificial, taxpayer
supported incentives aimed at picking a
winner in the marketplace.
JULY 2013 | FUEL OIL NEWS | www.fueloilnews.com
Editor
Keith Reid
847/720-5615
kreid@specialtyim.com
Managing Editor
Debra Reschke Schug
847/720-5618
dschug@specialtyim.com
Columnists
Charles Bursey, Sr.
Shane Sweet
George Lanthier
List Rentals/ Reprints – Cheryl Naughton
678/292-6054 Fax: 360/294-6054
cnaughton@specialtyim.com
PRODUCTION
Production Manager – Karen Kalinyak
Art Director – Brian Snook
A d v ertisin g S ales
East – Dave Campbell, Associate Publisher
413/528-2364 Fax: 413/528-8835
dcampbell@specialtyim.com
Central & South
Rich Alden
603/899-3010 Fax: 603/899-2343
ralden@specialtyim.com
Barbara Reynolds
603/588-2086
breynolds@specialtyim.com
West – Ken Jordan
972/540-2122 Fax: 972/540-2127
kjordan@specialtyim.com
MAIN OFFICE
1030 W. Higgins Road
Suite 230
Park Ridge, IL 60068
847/720-5600 • Fax: 847-720-5601
C ustomer S er v ice
845/856-2229 • Fax: 845/856-5822
Fuel Oil News
P.O. Box 4290, Port Jervis, NJ 12771
Membership applied for 7/1/2010
