(January 1, 2018) — More than 300 organizations representing users, retailers, customers, fleet managers, utilities, and producers of alternative fuels, including propane and natural gas, are circulating a letter on Capitol Hill urging Congress to reinstate the 50-cent-per-gallon alternative fuel tax credit (AFTC). The letter asked Congress to extend AFTC for two years and highlighted the business-planning benefits of such a move. It also observed that a full five-year extension would provide business certainty combined with a significant contribution to America’s economic growth. The National Propane Gas Association (NPGA) urges industry members to join a grassroots campaign to save propane tax credits by adding your name to the letter. Now that tax reform has passed with no energy tax credits, the NPGA needs every industry...

(December 22, 2017) — Website operator Lou Haverty is passionate about his business credit cards — so much so that he has figured out how to use them to save thousands on business expenses. “I really enjoy traveling,” says Haverty, who runs The First Class Travel Guide website. “I just don’t like paying for first-class travel. So, I try to use the business credit cards to take the most expensive trips possible while spending as little each month as I can.” In fact, he is able to fund one or two such trips a year with credit card points from business cards he’s opened. With the right cards and the right spending, you can save thousands each year on travel, business expenses, and more. We’ll walk you...

(December 21, 2017) — Independent Technologies Inc. (Blair, Neb.) has acquired EnerTrac Tank Monitoring from Senet (Portsmouth, N.H.). Details of the transaction were not released. The move is said by both companies to be positive and complementary, and one that will deliver technology to a growing market. “We are very excited about bringing the best of our two companies together,” said Hank Smith, CEO of Independent Technologies. The acquisition will allow the WESROC division of Independent Technologies to expand its product line while also enhancing its communication solutions capabilities. “ This is an exciting move that lets us significantly expand our hardware solutions, and on the communications side, we are able to offer a monitoring solution for any need or budget,” Smith said. For Senet,...

(December 18, 2017) — Capstone Turbine Corp. (Chatsworth, Calif.), a manufacturer of micro-turbine energy systems, said in November 2017 it had received an order for two C200 micro-turbines to provide combined heat and power (CHP) for a Jamaican hotel. The propane-fueled units will provide electrical power to site loads, and the thermal energy from the exhaust will be used via an absorption chiller to provide chilled water to the building’s heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning system. When deployed in this configuration, the total system efficiency can exceed 80%, notes Capstone, providing significant savings to the customer. In addition, the micro-turbines reduce customer dependence on the local utility grid, which can be unstable, unreliable, and susceptible to severe weather events such as hurricanes. “Because of the tremendous...

(December 18, 2017) — The compliance deadline for Electronic Logging Devices (ELDs) is today, December 18, 2017. The National Propane Gas Association (NPGA) has received questions about a rumored delay to the compliance deadline. The claim is that the Presidential Administration intends to publish guidance to local law enforcement recommending that while citations could be issued for failure to install and utilize ELDs by the December 18 deadline, local law enforcement could delay fines associated with the citations until April 2018. However, the Presidential Administration or the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) have not published any such delay notice. The implementation timeline and additional information about ELDs are available at the FMCSA website. ELDs connect with a commercial motor vehicle engine to automatically record...

MOBILE, ALABAMA (December 18, 2017) — The Mobile County Public Schools were honored at the Southeast Diesel Collaborative’s 12 Annual Partners Meeting in Atlanta with a Fleet Leadership Award. Mobile County Public Schools has acquired 80 propane-powered school buses to replace old diesel-powered buses in its fleet. These units were replaced by new Blue Bird Propane Vision buses supplied by BusWorx and equipped with ROUSH CleanTech propane fuel system engines. Mark Bentley, executive director of the Alabama Clean Fuels Coalition, accepted the award for the Mobile system. “The Mobile County Public Schools system has long been a leader in the state in working toward a cleaner Alabama,” Bentley said. “This award just reinforces how proud we are to be partners with the system and with...

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