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MOC has been invited to offer public
testimony on Oilheat industry
recommendations to the state legislature
and the executive branch with regard to
policies and activities to promote biofuels in
Massachusetts. Governor Deval Patrick's
staff has
asked MOC's Michael Ferrante to join the
newly-created Massachusetts Advanced
Biofuels Task Force (ABTF) and provide
testimony on January 17 at the State House.
To read the Governer's bill and an Op-ed on
biofuels
written by MOC, please visit
www.massoilheat.org.
In conjunction with the hearing, Paul Nazzaro
and the National Biodiesel Board (NBB) will
be hosting a meeting for top NORA officials
including John Huber, President of NORA
and Don Allen, a retail oil heat dealer and
past chairman of NORA. Back in 2005
NORA begin encouraging a
5% blend of biofuel in heating oil. With
possible mandates in Massachusetts, the
issue is really rising to the surface. During
the meeting Nazzaro plans to explain the
obstacles of mandating a bio-blend before
the industry is ready. Issues that still need to
be addressed and resolved include supply of
the product, establishing and upgrading
more terminal locations to sell biofuel,
improving storage capabilities, blending the
fuel in a
proper and safe way and making sure
consumers are knowledgeable about the
product and are ready to embrace it.
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The Massachusetts Senate passed a major
piece of energy legislation (Senate Bill 2457)
this week and the bill includes a watered-
down but still some troublesome home
energy scoring requirement that MOC
opposes. The bill does not include language
that MOC drafted that would have created a
fund to help homeowners replace older,
inefficient oil-fired heating systems with new
oil-fired systems.
The Senate bill requires that starting in
January 2010, all homes must have an
energy audit
before they can be sold. The home
would be assigned an energy score that
could help or hurt a potential sale depending
on the findings. This week, MOC lobbied the
Senate and helped soften the energy audit
requirements to include audit waivers for
homeowners and a three year time frame to
complete the audit before selling a home. As
lawmakers begin looking to compromise on
House and Senate versions of the legislation,
MOC will join forces with the Greater Boston
Real Estate Board in making sure the final
version of the bill does not include the energy
audit language. Currently, the House version
(House Bill 4373) calls for the energy audit
concept to be sent to a study committee - a
move that effectively kills the idea.
On the fuel oil upgrade fund, better know as
a System Betterment Charge (SBC), Senate
lawmakers were reluctant to add any
assessment to the cost of heating oil
because of current home heating prices.
The bill would however establish a pilot
program called the HEAT Loan Program,
which would focus on home energy savings.
Through a mandatory utility charge, the
program would help home owners make
energy efficiency upgrades
regardless of their heat source.
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MOC would like to welcome Joseph Santoro
of Sanoco, Inc. d/b/a Attleborro/Plainville
Oil
Company out of Plainville, as a new
retail
member to the Council.
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This week's vendor spotlight is Energy
Kinetics out of Needham. Founded in
1979,
Energy Kinetics is a manufacturer of
innovative, high-efficiency heating systems
designed to meet the needs of today's
demanding homeowners and heating
professionals. In addition to SYSTEM 2000,
Energy Kinetics supplies many other heating
products for residential and light commercial
applications. To find out more information
please call Jim Riordan at 781-444-0390 or
visit their website, www.energykinetics.com.
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email:
zahra@massoilheat.org
phone:
781-237-0730
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