The home heating oil industry has a long and proud history, and Fuel Oil News has been there supporting it since 1935. It is an industry that has faced many challenges during that time. In its 77th year, Fuel Oil News is doing more than just holding
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38 MAY 2016 | FUEL OIL NEWS | www.fueloilnews.com to fill its 10 slots based upon need, if pos- sible. "We want to base this program on people who need a little extra help but we're finding people are maintaining and fixing but not necessarily pushing their units," said Chris Scaturro, Porco's pro- pane manager and fleet dispatcher and HVOEC vice president. Both Panebianco and Scaturro credit former HVOEC president Ron Mustello, general manager of Petro Poughkeepsie and Love Effron Fuel, both based in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., with bringing the program to life at HVOEC. AUTOMATING THE PROCESS An integral player in the process has been PriMedia, a multifaceted marketing and public relations firm well-established in the industry. While the program can be administered manually using paper forms, this process can be exceptionally cumber- some. PriMedia has developed a digitized, web-based solution that associations can implement to eliminate most of the head- ache and hassle. This program is currently in place at all of the associations except NC Oilheat and VPCGA. "When we looked at their rebate pro- gram we discovered that it's all done by paper," said John Bruno, PriMedia's creative director. "There is a form for a company to register for the program through the association and then there is a form for them to get pre-rebate approval that goes to the association, and the associ- ation approves that and makes sure there's money in the bucket that is allocated for that rebate and gives approval to the dealer, which involves more paperwork." And it doesn't stop there. NORA wants detailed information on the upgrade to include the AFUE rating of the old equip- ment, the AFUE rating of the new more efficient equipment and the make and model numbers for the old and new equip- ment if possible. Also it is recommended that a customer signature signifying that the upgrade was completed be included. This information will be used to help show the success of the program at the next reau- thorization. If everything is added up there might be 45 sheets of paper involved from forms to spreadsheets to receipts that would need to be scanned and sent back and forth between the three parties, sheet by sheet. Handling that amount of paperwork for tens, not to mention hundreds of rebates, would be a challenge for large asso- ciations and large dealer operations with abundant resources, which is certainly far from the norm in the heating oil industry. The more cumbersome the process is the less successful the program is going to be from the customer, to the dealer, to the association and finally to the responsive- ness at NORA itself. At the most let basic level, PriMedia converted the paper forms to the PDF for- mat to allow easier online access. This still allows a company to work through the process the old-fashioned way but a bit more conveniently. Beyond that, PriMedia further digitally incorporates those forms in an online portal where heating oil com- panies can fill them out electronically, the association can review and allocate rebates, and the required information can then be electronically sent to NORA. "It's a lot of leg work that we as a council don't have to do because it's automated," said Scaturro. "Everybody on the council has a full-time job running companies or managing or doing other things so this is a lifesaver at the back office end. Obviously we pay for this, but it has helped out a tre- mendous amount." Bruno stresses that all of the informa- tion is secure. While Primedia has access to the system and the portal, the associa- tion really has the granular access. Each dealer has a unique password and sees only its own information; and each association sees only its own information. "It's very secure and backed up," Bruno said. The branding is also designed to unify what is generally a flexible program. This is particularly important for companies that do business across state lines. For example, the New York program is named Upgrade and Save New York Energy Efficiency and Safety Rebate Program. For a program in Connecticut, the program name would remain the same with only the name of the state changed. However, the company would have to understand and explain the specifics of the rebate program offered in each state. l F O N NOR A Rebate Program the