Productive Propane Days Leads to Doubling of Caucus

The propane industry’s annual trip to Washington, D.C. for Propane Days is usually productive, and this year was no exception. After meetings between groups of propane marketers and their representatives in Congress, several Congress members signed on to the Congressional Propane Caucus. The caucus, which Congress formed in May to keep members informed about issues and news in the propane industry, more than doubled in size to 22 members immediately following Propane Days.

Propane marketers reported that members of Congress and their staff members were receptive to the various issues the propane group raised. Joe Buschur of McMahan’s Bottle Gas (Dayton, Ohio) was part of a group from Ohio that met with a staff member for Ohio Congressman Steve Stivers at 3:30 p.m. on June 9.

“[Later that day], when he came to the reception at 5 p.m., he informed us that Congressman Stivers had already joined the Propane Caucus,” Buschur said.

The National Propane Gas Association (NPGA) reported that about 250 of its members attended this year’s Propane Days, which took place June 8 to 10 at the Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill. In addition to asking members of Congress to join the Congressional Propane Caucus, NPGA’s members visited Congressional offices to discuss issues such as extensions of tax credits, modifying propane autogas’ excise tax calculation, and achieving parity with natural gas in EPA’s CAFE standards.

The fact that the 114th Congress includes about 74 new members who are less familiar with the propane industry added to the challenges of this year’s Propane Days, Matt Bisenius, NPGA director of legislative affairs, told

after Propane Days. “Having our guys going up there and pounding the pavement is going to pay nice dividends for us when we follow up on our issues.”

Bisenius added that he felt parity with natural gas in CAFE standards was an issue that particularly resonated with Congress members and their staffs.

“The idea that neither Congress nor EPA should be picking winners and losers is a message that a lot of the members enjoy,” he stated.

U.S. Rep. Bob Latta (R-Ohio) and political commentator Charles Krauthammer spoke at the Propane Days session on June 9, and Bisenius noted that the standing ovations Latta and Krauthammer received from attendees was a testament of how excited the propane industry was to be at the event.

The ovations also showed that “we have recovered from a difficult winter two winters ago and are ready to be very productive,” Bisenius noted.

Following the June 9 morning meeting, propane marketers and other propane industry representatives headed out to the various Congressional offices to ask Congress members to join the caucus. They also focused on three additional issues in their discussions.

Because Congress is considering broader tax reform, getting representatives to focus on extending tax credits is a challenge, Bisenius noted. He has heard that a large-scale tax reform package would probably not pass this year. But NPGA wants tax credits to be included as part of any tax extenders package that goes into effect.

“Once we get in to actual tax reform, we’re happy to be a part of that discussion,” he commented, adding that the association has worked with the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee to make sure they are aware of what the propane industry’s expectations in any tax reform package would be.

Users of gasoline and propane for highway fuel pay an excise tax of 18.3 cents per gallon. But the tax is levied on a volumetric, per-gallon basis rather than an energy-content basis, which NPGA feels puts propane, a cleaner-burning fuel than gasoline, at a competitive disadvantage.

Bisenius acknowledges that many legislators can see the situation is unfair to the propane industry. “We’re encouraging people to adopt cleaner fuels — alternative fuels — but because of the way the tax code is written, we’re punishing people for choosing that, and I think members on both sides of the aisle realize there’s a problem with that.” He sees a good opportunity for the propane industry to get propane taxed on an energy-content basis. Opportunities could come through a stand-alone bill or as part of a larger bill, such as the highway bill, being considered later this year.

“Those are the types of things we’re going to look to build on after Propane Days,” Bisenius said.

To help automakers comply with Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) Standards adopted in the 1970s to improve vehicle fuel efficiency, automakers can earn CAFE credits for producing alternative-fuel, dual-fuel, or bi-fuel vehicles. For most alternative fuels, the CAFE credits that manufacturers can earn are subject to a cap. But two types of vehicles are exempt from the cap: electric and natural gas. The propane industry at Propane Days asked legislators to also exempt bi-fuel propane autogas vehicles from the CAFE credit gap so they can gain parity with natural gas.

Additionally, when the EPA released its latest GHG standards for model year 2017 and later automobiles, it included a “multiplier incentive” for certain types of fuels. Alternative-fueled vehicles, including electric and natural gas, were given the multiplier incentive, granting a regulatory advantage to incentivize their production. While propane meets the same goals as these other alternative fuels in reducing GHGs, it was not granted a multiplier incentive in the final rule.

Bisenius has heard from members of Congress that they were willing to contact the Environmental Protection Agency to remedy the situation.

“This Congress has not been shy about holding EPA accountable, so that’s something that is a pretty easy ask for us to make when you point out that it truly is, at least in our opinion, an arbitrary distinction that EPA is making.”

Bisenius, who joined NPGA last August and previously served as a staff member handling energy issues for U.S. Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), added that the propane industry’s work in talking to legislators and staff members about all the issues has an impact.

“It’s hearing from the constituents who really make it known to them that this is something that’s important and should be taken seriously.”

Propane Days attendees noted the strong support they received from legislators at the event. Lisa Hill, executive director of the Alabama Propane Gas Association (APGA), said her group participated in meetings with eight of Alabama’s nine Congressional offices. The group held a productive meeting with Sen. Jeff Sessions.

“Sen. Sessions is a huge supporter of propane as an autogas,” Hill stated. “Alabama has always been very fortunate to have great Congressional delegation support for the propane gas industry. This year, APGA was pleased to have Samuel Maubanc, general manager of the European LPG Association, as our guest. Samuel attended meetings with us and gave great insight into how autogas is successful in Europe.”

Buschur from Ohio noted that his group met in 2013 with an aide to Congressman Latta, and that later that evening the aide showed up at a reception for the propane industry to ask additional questions.

“This was an experience we were not used to, and we felt very good that he took the time to learn about our industry,” Buschur stated. “Following the winter of 2013-14, he really got involved with the propane industry and introduced a couple of bills that were passed. This reaffirmed for those of us from Ohio the importance of Propane Days.” —Daryl Lubinsky