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MOC's Board of Directors will meet on
February 26th at the Westin Hotel in
Waltham. The Board will review all MOC
activities and operations and provide
direction to MOC's staff on association
finances, National Oilheat Research Alliance
(NORA) grants and programs, state
legislative and regulatory efforts and gas
utility competition. The Board will also hear
the results of a member survey conducted
by Scribendi Advertising & Public Relations.
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In a recent direct marketing campaign
KeySpan, now a part of National Grid,
creates a new incentive for consumers to
switch fuels. They are offering to help
customers donate their remaining oil to a
needy family when they switch to natural
gas. KeySpan is also providing new
customers with discounted oil tank removal
companies and a money back guarantee if
they are not satisfied with natural gas after 2
years. The mailer also makes claims that
natural gas burns cleaner than oil and
has "no soot" and "no fumes". MOC plans to
have the piece reviewed by the Council's
utility attorney. "The industry needs to
develop a long term strategy to deal with this
type of marketing and MOC will be
discussing this matter at the Board level and
will also talk with industry leaders in New
York where National Grid/KeySpan operates
as well," said MOC's Michael Ferrante.
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MOC is working with PriMedia to develop
seminars for retail heating oil dealers and
sales personnel to help them battle gas
conversion efforts and more effectively sell
Oilheat systems. The training sessions will
include a thorough discussion of calculating
gas rates, facts on home heating system
emissions and Oilheat equipment versus
gas heat equipment. Dates for the seminars
will be announced shortly.
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The National Oilheat Research Alliance
(NORA) is developing a new radio campaign
for the spring and fall of 2008. As a member
of NORA's Consumer Education
Subcommittee, MOC's Michael Ferrante will
be helping to review and approve radio
scripts this month and assist in production
and placement of the radio commercials.
MOC's radio buy for NORA will include all
major markets including Boston, Cape Cod,
Worcester, Springfield and Pittsfield.
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MOC continues to work closely with Beacon
Hill's legislative leaders on provisions calling
for a bioheat mandate statewide and a
mandatory home energy scoring system tied
to home sales. Both matters are part of a
comprehensive piece of energy legislation
currently before the Massachusetts House
and Senate.
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In order to expand the supply and demand of
bioheat in home heating, retailers need to
expand their communication to consumers.
MOC is attempting to help by
distributing marketing materials created by
the National Biodiesel Board (NBB) to
the industry and to dealers that already sell
bioheat and are
looking to convert more of their customers to
the emerging fuel. MOC has already sent out
over 70,000 bill stuffers, postcards and
newsletters in the hopes that dealers will use
them to educate their customers.
If you wish to receive any of the 7 direct mail
marketing pieces, please link to the order
form below. Even if your company is still
considering selling bioheat, this is a good
opportunity to educate your customers and
take advantage of the materials available.
Sales letters are also available on the NBB
website,
www.biodiesel.org/markets/hom/.
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As part of the Oilheat-Realty Partnership
program, MOC will be sponsoring the 2008
New England Realtors® Conference
(NERC) in Cambridge on March 3rd and
4th. With the help of PriMedia, MOC will
display materials promoting the partnership
program and be available throughout the 2
days to answer questions about oilheat and
selling oil heated homes. As a part of the
sponsorship package, MOC's Oilheat-Realty
website, www.mocrealty.org, will be
hyperlinked in the online promotion and
registration section of the NERC website.
MOC will also be teaming up with PriMedia
once again for 5 Realtor breakfast seminars
in 2008 across Massachusetts. While
Realtors enjoy a complimentary breakfast
they are able to learn about the qualities of
oilheat and clear up any misconceptions of
the fuel. MOC will be setting dates for these
events over the next couple of weeks.
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The always anticipated MOC Directory and
Handbook will be arriving at your company
within the next two weeks. In addition to retail
oilheat and associate member listings,
companies selling bioheat and propane will
have separate listings. Useful tools in the
book include 2008 heating oil prices, 2007-
2008 gas rates and conversion table, 30 year
degree day chart and a guide to using the
MOC website, www.massoilheat.org.
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email:
zahra@massoilheat.org
phone:
781-237-0730
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