Propane’s Vital Role in the Aftermath of the Los Angeles Wildfires

In January, Los Angeles faced extensive and devastating wildfires that left around 200,000 people displaced and destroyed almost 20,000 structures in the area. As it often does in the wake of natural disasters, propane provided vital fuel to power essential functions in the area when other options like electricity were no longer available.

In response to the fires and the urgent needs of those who call Los Angeles home, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) eased generator emissions standards to help with the situation. BPN asked Colin Sueyres, president and CEO of the Western Propane Gas Association (WPGA), to provide readers with his insights on this CARB announcement, as well as relief efforts in the area.

Please give an overview of what CARB did when it announced it would ease generator emissions standards.

CARB has had a long-standing rule on its books that created stricter than national standards for emissions for generators, both stationary and portable. A recent California rule, the Small Off-Road Engine (SORE) rule, that was approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the final weeks of former President Joe Biden’s administration actually created an even stricter standard for those portable generators. The result of these rules, unsurprising to many of your readers, is that California has had the strictest and most expensive generator market in the country.

However, this latest SORE rule would have made it difficult to sell new generators at scale, leaving many in Southern California facing significant challenges without any electricity. In an attempt to save face, CARB has essentially waived its own rules to allow any EPA-certified generator under 19 kilowatts to be sold in the state of California through the end of June 2025. The result also means that these generators could conceivably be run throughout the remainder of their useful life without consequence.

While CARB has temporarily waived runtime rules around large-scale industrial generators to allow utilities and local governments to keep running during disasters or power outages, this is not something that CARB has ever done on a consumer scale before. Hence, it has raised eyebrows amongst many of us who deal with the agency.

How does this change benefit people affected by the fires?

The result is that Californians can now buy affordable propane generators off the shelves of their favorite big box retailer or mom-and-pop hardware store starting immediately and extending through the end of June. For those who have lost their homes and may need to have temporary housing on their property site while they rebuild, they will have access to affordable, reliable, safe backup generation from a propane generator.

For those who live in the footprint of these fires or are affected by wide-scale power shutoffs to avoid further fires, this will mean that finding and buying a backup generator is now more affordable than ever thanks to this waived rule.

Beyond just these most recent fires in Los Angeles, there will be benefits. Anyone preparing for future disasters or building resiliency into their homes and businesses will be able to find a reasonably priced generator to keep on-site that could be run with a BBQ bottle in a pinch.

How is the propane industry rising to the occasion now that CARB has eased these emissions standards?

Our industry is doing the same thing it does every time there is an opportunity to do so: We are going to get propane to the people of this state who need it. We have spoken to marketers across the state who are already involved in backup and primary power generation, and I personally know of a few marketers who are going out and proactively purchasing many of these generators so they could have them on-site as a potential incentive for new customers. Anytime our industry can highlight just how helpful we are to the people who have pressing needs, we will highlight it as forcefully as possible.

How will propane help boost the efficiency of emergency power during this situation?

California’s electric grid is not exactly known for its robustness. We have more planned and unplanned outages than just about any other state in the nation, and they come across every season in the calendar. Life-saving devices do not care about whether your local electric utility is providing adequate service. Cellphones, televisions, radios and other key tools to keep consumers informed and aware are often drained within the first day of use.

It is our mission as an industry to make sure that anyone who needs power — from consumers to emergency responders — has it. We will make as many deliveries as needed, wherever required, to supply our fuel.

Can you give expression to how propane’s shelf life positions it as an effectual tool in relief efforts for disasters like this?

Unlike diesel fuel, which needs stabilizers or battery backups (which can be temperamental, heavy and expensive), having a shelf-stable gas that is able to be parked in just about any storage location and be deployed at a moment’s notice is absolutely crucial. There is a reason why WPGA marketers are some of the only civilians on the ground in the burn zone right now. Our fuel and the knowledge that our industry provides to emergency responders is invaluable. Beyond providing power, our fuel is doing multiple duties by providing hot meals and hot water to victims, keeping remote cellphone towers fully powered and running mobile equipment to clear brush and debris — and all from one storage tank.

Is WPGA involved in these efforts? What has that entailed for your team?

Yes, we have had a long-standing relationship with emergency responder agencies within California both on the state and local level. We have a team of cooperators from across the industry that help with repopulation by red tagging or green tagging structures and buildings attached to propane use. We provide technical expertise directly to senior fire officials about safety in and around regions of the state that run primarily on propane. And we’re involved in every senior government briefing regarding the fire regions so that our marketers can provide fuel, as requested and as necessary, to regions in and around the fire zones.

What about propane businesses affiliated with WPGA — how are companies working to help provide relief in the state?

Our marketers have been affected by these fires the same as many other businesses across the state. We’ve had friends and family that have all been affected. Our Southern California fuel marketers have been working overtime to provide as many resources as humanly possible to both fire victims and to the emergency responders who are battling the blazes.

Have you heard any stories of resiliency, whether from victims who have been helped or WPGA members/staff who have assisted in relief efforts?

I have already heard from a number of marketers who have been literally working around the clock attempting to make deliveries all across Southern California to make sure that people who have stayed in their homes or reentered their homes have access to propane for heating and cooking. Just this morning, Rob Scott, our safety and technical director, was telling me stories from on the ground of helping to get folks within the Hills communities around Los Angeles back in fully repopulated.

Is there anything propane industry members across the country can do to help?

Absolutely. There are a number of WPGA marketers and members serving Southern California that are assisting, including Ferrellgas, AmeriGas, EDP, Ted Johnson Propane and U-Haul, to name just a few. Reaching out to those members to help assist their efforts is one of the best ways to provide direct relief to emergency responders and victims while highlighting the industry’s national support to disaster response.

Additionally, there are a number of local charities and nonprofits assisting fire victims that are worthy of support. The Los Angeles Times has collected a comprehensive list that addresses everything from lodging to baby needs: tinyurl.com/2u3vxt2m.