(Oak Ridge, TN) November 7, 2017 – Cooling homes and small office spaces could become less costly and more efficient with new early stage technology developed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). Researchers designed a window air conditioning unit that uses propane as the refrigerant, cooling the air with 17 percent higher efficiency than the best ENERGY STAR® commercial units. “Propane offers superior thermodynamic properties and creates 700 percent less pollution than standard refrigerants,” said ORNL’s Brian Fricke. “We developed a system that takes advantage of these qualities and reduces global warming potential.” The team’s early-stage technology includes a novel heat exchanger, compressor, and controls that require less propane than similar units used overseas. The team’s laboratory evaluations demonstrate the prototype unit is the first…

(October 30, 2017) — The Sacramento Bee is reporting that an under-cover sting operation has led to bribery charges against two additional California Department of Motor Vehicles employees. The six-year probe by the FBI, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and other federal agencies has resulted in charges against eight individuals so far and the revocation of hundreds of commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) around the state. The latest employees to be charged were named in documents unsealed this month in federal court in Sacramento. The government is alleging they took bribes from Southern California truck driving school owners to alter DMV records to show applicants passed written and driving tests, allowing them to obtain CDLs. The defendants were identified as Lisa Terraciano, 51, who is…

Towanda, PENNSYLVANIA (October 26, 2017) — WOC Energy, an Energy Distribution Partners (EDP) company based in Towanda, Pennsylvania, has earned a Readers’ Choice Award from the readers of The Daily Review, Towanda’s main newspaper, for the third year in a row. WOC Energy has been providing retail and commercial propane services, heating oil, and heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) services to customers across north-central Pennsylvania for nearly 60 years. Founded in 1958 as Williams Oil Company, WOC Energy was acquired by EDP in February 2015. According to Jeff Brunner, Regional Vice President-East for EDP, the award is in large part due to the strong employee culture that is well-established at WOC 
Energy. “We knew from our initial conversations with WOC’s owners that the company…

Most U.S. households can expect higher heating expenditures this winter—October 2017 through March 2018—than the last two winters, according to the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Winter Fuels Outlook. Higher expected winter heating expenditures are the result of both more heating demand because of relatively colder weather and, to a lesser extent, higher fuel prices. EIA’s projections of heating demand are based on the most recent temperature forecasts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). NOAA’s forecast anticipates that winter weather will be 13% colder than last winter and closer to the average of the previous 10 winters. Because weather patterns present great uncertainty to winter energy forecasts, EIA’s Winter Fuels Outlook includes projections for 10% colder and 10% warmer scenarios. In the past 10…