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The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) agents
who recently conducted an audit at a retail
heating oil company in Massachusetts have
strongly suggested that money collected in
advance by dealers on pre-purchases for
heating oil is considered "income." This
appears to run counter to established
accounting procedures and practices
whereby the money is not considered
income until the heating oil is delivered. MOC
is closely following this case involving a retail
member of the Council. MOC may step in
and provide support if the company is
challenged by the IRS.
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MOC continues to work almost weekly on a
legislative proposal that would provide
funding to help homeowners upgrade older,
inefficient oil-fired heating equipment with
new Oilheating equipment. Earlier this year,
MOC's Board of Directors agreed to pursue
the legislative concept in an effort to secure
vulnerable Oilheat customers and keep them
from switching fuels. The legislation calls for
a ½ cent assessment on all residential
heating oil sold in Massachusetts and the
money would be directed to a state fuel oil
efficiency fund. Oilheat dealers would play a
key role in directing the activities of the fund if
the legislation passes. Currently, MOC is
working with Senator Michael Morrissey
(Chairman, Joint Committee on
Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy)
and the Save Energy coalition to fashion
legislative language that is acceptable to the
Oilheat industry.
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A hearing has been scheduled for next
Tuesday, October 9th for Senator Stephen
Brewer's bill #171, An Act Relative to
Continuing Education Requirements for Oil
Burner Technicians. This bill would
require
technicians to take some type (to be
determined) of continuing education class
every two years to keep his/her license valid.
MOC staff has already met with Brewer's
assistant to discuss the bill. MOC supports
the bill only if already established materials,
such as NORA's silver and gold
certifications, can be used. Michael Ferrante
will submit written testimony stating these
terms. To read the full text of this bill, please
follow the link below to the MOC website.
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Governor Patrick continues to make key
appointments in state government and now
that a new leadership team has been
installed at the Department of Housing and
Community Development, MOC will be
pushing for changes to the state's fuel
assistance program for the 2008-2009
heating season. MOC will soon meet with
Tina Brooks, the new Undersecretary of
Housing and Community Development, and
lay out the Oilheat industry's concerns
surrounding Margin-Over-Rack (MOR)
payments in light of the difficult economics
facing retail heating oil dealers.
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MOC will be showing their support for the
Massachusetts Association of Realtors
(MAR) next week with a booth at the MAR
trade show in Providence, RI. The show runs
October 10th & 11th from 8:00 a.m. - 5:30
p.m. David Keiser of PriMedia will be
running booth #39 to promote the MOC
Realtor Partnership Program and of course,
Oilheating.
MOC will also be hosting two more Realty
breakfast seminars on October 17th and
18th prior the MOC regional meetings.
Please visit, www.mocrealty.org for more
information.
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With the help of Greystone Services, MOC is
putting the final touches on its new website.
Most of the same information will still be
accessible, but with easier navigation. New
things to look forward to on the site are a
new degree day page, regulation updates,
training session postings, energy alerts,
membership benefits and a fun new image
for MOC.
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Once the 2007-08 winter gas rates are
announced on November 1, the rates will
also still be easily accessible from the MOC
homepage. All rates comparing Btu vs. Btu
for 11 gas utilities should be posted by the
first week in November. Using a formula
established by MOC, Oilheat prices from the
Massachusetts Division of Energy
Resources will be compared to gas prices
for 100, 150 and 200 therms. Please call an
MOC staff member with any questions about
these calculations.
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Boston Globe editors are calling for a tax
on "carbon emissions" to encourage the
growth of "clean-burning" natural gas use in
the United States and lessen the use of coal
for power generation. In an editorial on
October 3, the Globe said the tax would
encourage the tapping on Canadian natural
gas reserves in the Northwest Territories
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In this week's vendor spotlight MOC would
like to give a special thanks to wholesale
members, Global Companies, Irving Oil, L.E.
Belcher and Total Energy Solutions, for
showing their support through attendance at
regional meetings and retail member
recruitment efforts.
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email:
zahra@massoilheat.org
phone:
781-237-0730
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