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BPN Staff

Compiled by BPN Staff

 

  • Feature Articles

    PERC Announces New Senior Manager, Social and Digital Media

    The Propane Education and Research Council (PERC) has announced the newest addition to its staff, Ryan Dutcher, who will serve as Senior Manager, Social and Digital Media. Dutcher has more than 10 years of experience in the digital communications and marketing realm. He comes to PERC from having recently worked in Beijing as Senior Communications Manager and Chief Digital Strategist at The American Chamber of Commerce in the People’s Republic of China. Dutcher holds a Master Degree in International Public Policy from the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University, one of the world’s leading graduate schools devoted to the study of international relations, where he focused on energy and environmental policy. Dutcher will be involved with PERC’s new...

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  • Feature Articles

    Crestwood Midstream Revises Finger Lakes LPG Storage Facility Proposal

    Crestwood Midstream Partners LP (Houston) is making voluntary concessions in its proposal to store propane in salt caverns in Schuyler County, N.Y. The long-delayed project has been the subject of repeated and vitriolic protests by residents and environmentalists. They assert quality of life issues, pollution concerns, and negative impacts on tourism should prohibit it. A letter from the Albany, N.Y. law firm DLA Piper to the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) outlined that Crestwood would: • Reduce storage capacity from 2.1 million barrels to 1.5 million barrels; • Eliminate the storage of butane; only propane would be stored in the salt caverns; • Ship propane in and out only by pipeline, removal of both railroad and truck options; and, • Eliminate two of three...

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  • Feature Articles

    Alliance AutoGas, Sharp Energy Partnership Marks Company’s 7th Public Propane Autogas Fueling Station

    Swannanoa, NC (August 10, 2016) — Sharp Energy, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Chesapeake Utilities Corporation (NYSE.CPK) recently opened the new Sharp Energy headquarters building in Georgetown, Delaware, that includes an autogas fueling station. The autogas fueling station was developed in partnership with Alliance AutoGas, a national network of more than 120 companies that deliver alternative fueling solutions, including EPA-certified autogas vehicle conversions, on-site fueling infrastructure, fuel supply, safety and operational training, and on-going technical support. Ed Hoffman, President, Blossman Services, Inc., notes, “It is encouraging to see continued investment in propane autogas. With affordable dispensing infrastructure and easy-to-adapt conversion technology, fleets are able to experience a positive ROI in a year or two, and help clean the air by utilizing the cleanest fossil fuel...

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  • Feature Articles

    Canadian School Division Switches Entire School Bus Fleet to Propane

    REGINA, Saskatchewan (Aug. 10, 2016) — École St. Mary, Regina Catholic School Division (RCSD), which serves about 12,000 students in 30 Canadian schools, unveiled its has upgraded its entire school bus fleet to Blue Bird Vision Propane buses, in partnership with LP3 Transportation Solutions. The Catholic School Division’s fleet will become the largest fleet of propane buses in Saskatchewan. Propane is an economical alternative fuel that will allow the school district to save money in maintenance and fuel costs, and to reduce its carbon footprint. “Our new fleet of school buses fueled by propane means cleaner air around our students and drivers, and within our community,” said Domenic Scuglia, director of education for RCSD. “At Regina Catholic Schools, we always consider our students’ needs first...

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  • Feature Articles

    75 Years of Innovation at White Mountain Oil & Propane

    The management and employees of White Mountain Oil & Propane (North Conway, N.H.) like to think of their company as an innovation leader in the New Hampshire area. The business is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, and it has sold propane for about 65 of those years. White Mountain Oil & Propane’s marketing director Dana Jones said it was one of the first in its area to sell propane, beginning in the late 1940s. “The company has always been innovative in this region,” said Jones, who started as a truck driver with White Mountain Oil & Propane in the winter of 1978-1979. “They were doing whatever was new and modern.” In 1941, Ben Saunders and his wife, Ethel, formed the White Mountain Oil Company,...

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  • Feature Articles

    Propane Industry Driver Shortage, Regulations, Growth

    By now, it’s no secret. Truck driver recruitment and retention are a great concern for propane marketers. Several marketers mention the driver shortage, and hiring problems in general, as the top issue currently facing the propane industry. “The only way you haven’t seen it is if you haven’t had to hire a driver,” said Chris Earhart of Dixie Gas & Oil Corp. (Verona, Va.). Asked to list the main issues they see in the propane industry and their businesses, propane marketers also mentioned increasing regulations, the supply of propane, and expansion of natural gas into traditional rural propane territory as pressing concerns. “I think supply, especially dealing with the big swings in demand, is a big issue in the propane industry, and I think the...

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  • Feature Articles

    Managers and Leaders…

    By Tamera Kovacs… The retail propane industry was largely built by entrepreneurs who believed they could create something of value by doing things just a little differently and better than everyone else. Most had a vision for the business they wanted to create. It may have been a scratch start-up or it may have been added on to an existing business. It was one person’s ability to see the opportunity coupled with the leadership traits to make that vision a reality. These entrepreneurs, or business owners, have the ability to paint the vision of the future of their company for everyone to see. The best of them also realize they can’t do it alone. Business owners, like all individuals, have their strengths and weaknesses and...

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  • Feature Articles

    Industry Fights for ‘Zero Net Energy’ Regulations in California

    As residential builders in California move toward meeting state energy efficiency standards that will eventually require residential buildings to produce as much energy as they consume, the Western Propane Gas Association (WPGA) is emphasizing the role that propane can play in meeting the goal known as “zero net energy.” Zero Net Energy (ZNE) is a term meaning that a building structure generates as much energy as it consumes, measured over a one-year period. More specifically, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, a zero net energy building “produces enough renewable energy to meet its own annual energy consumption requirements, thereby reducing the use of non-renewable energy in the building sector.” The California Energy Commission (CEC), through Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations, has...

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  • Feature Articles

    Assessment Rate Increase To Help Fund Consumer Ed

    To help fund its new consumer education program, along with its Partnership With States program and commercialization projects, the Propane Education & Research Council (PERC) at its meeting July 12 and 13 in Napa, Calif. approved an assessment rate increase from 0.4 cents/gal. to 0.45 cents. The increase is part of PERC’s 2017 budget. Council president and CEO Roy Willis said the Nov. 1, 2016 effective date for the new rate will allow the council to collect the assessment during a typically high-demand season rather than wait until the beginning of 2017. Willis stressed that the council was “deliberate” in only keeping “must-haves” in the budget, rather than approve an assessment rate higher than 0.45 cents/gal. The additional revenue is projected to be about $3...

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