Northeast Working Group for Industry Principles Gets to Work

Their goal is to determine the best strategies to help the industry meet the moment and move into the future

NEFI members will be hearing a lot about the Heating Fuels Northeast Working Group for Industry Principles, or “NEWG,” in the coming months.

“As the federal government turns its focus toward energy affordability and rolls back electrification subsidies, this is the perfect time for our industry to highlight its historic contributions to energy diversity, reliability, and consumer choice, as well as its successes with respect to cleaner burning fuels and more efficient technologies,” Jim Collura, NEFI President and CEO says. “The Northeast Working Group will help us determine the best strategies to meet the moment and move us into the future.”

The NEWG was created by a unanimous voice vote of the NEFI Board of Directors at its December meeting. It will bring together stakeholders from each industry sector and throughout the Northeast region and adjacent states to identify challenges and opportunities for heating fuels. They will then produce a menu of policy principles and energy solutions to “amplify and augment” the successes of the 2019 Providence Resolution, behind which Northeast fuel associations and businesses can unite, according to Co-Chair Rocco Lacertosa.

The Providence Resolution is a commitment by the home heating oil industry to voluntarily reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 15 percent by 2025 and 40 percent by 2030, and to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. “At the 2024 Visions Conference, we learned that we had reached the first milestone – actually exceeded it – and saw the huge strides the industry has made with B100 since Providence, with B100 and RD100 burners, equipment, and accessories,” explains the NEWG Co-Chair Charlie Uglietto. “Really, I think our industry’s best chance at being successful over the long haul is through adopting a new approach to delivered fuels, and I think a lot of us have already jumped on that bandwagon. That’s what this group is really entrusted with, and I give NEFI credit for having the wisdom to put us together and figure out next steps.”

“And as we’ve seen throughout the Northeast in the states that have decided to adopt GHG emission reduction strategies, some of them have caused some concern based on price. The thought process was, wouldn’t this be a great time for us to see if we could come together as an industry and list a set of policy initiatives that we could all agree might be beneficial for us to promote in our states as kind of the next step, or as an alternative to electrification. And so, this group has been organized and tasked with answering some basic questions, and we’re beginning to hone in on what policies could we promote,” he continued.

Lacertosa added, “while all of the states might not be able to adopt all of the same policies because of specific issues within their respective governments – city and state legislatures – we plan to at least give a set of guidelines, or goals, that show what we want to do in terms of carbon reductions.”

According to both Lacertosa and Uglietto, the NEWG will be studying various policies that have been debated at the state and local level such as low carbon fuel standards, cap-and-invest plans, clean heat standards, biofuel blending requirements, and others; reviewing the pros and cons of each; and providing this information to the industry at large. Both chairs agreed that one of the strongest points industry leaders will be able to make is how, since 2019, the liquid home heating industry has voluntarily changed direction to reduce emissions; that they have been self-policing because it was the right thing to do. Rather than be seen as part of the problem, the industry needs to be seen as part of the solution.

“No one asked us to do this, no one mandated that we do it. We were the ones to ask for the blending requirements here in New York,” Lacertosa added. “And we’ve taken a lot of steps that we should be proud of; that we’ve made some really good headway in terms of what we have done to move the industry in that direction and to be part of the solution. And you know, I’ve had meetings all month here with the New York State senators and assembly-people, and it seems like we’re getting through to them. They understand.”

“The hope is that, at the very least, the NEWG can put forth a series of ‘industry principles’ to ensure fair, consumer-focused legislation that empowers industry advocates at all levels as they engage policymakers going forward,” said Collura. “Bottom line, these policies must be designed to serve our Main Street family businesses – not the other way around.”

“There was a saying, either you have a seat at the table, or you’re on the menu,” Uglietto concludes. “And fortunately, the industry has positioned itself to be a participant in GHG emission reductions. And we just want to build on that with an industry-wide approach to what next steps can we take as an industry to take us further down this path.”

The NEWG is made up of the following members: Charles Uglietto, Cubby Oil Co., MA; Rocco Lacertosa, New York State Energy Coalition, NY; Art Chaves, Coan Heating & Cooling, MA; Alan Chmiel, Beckett Corp, OH; Jim Collura, National Energy and Fuel Institute, Washington, DC; Liam Dotson, National Energy and Fuel Institute, Washington DC; Mike Estes, Estes Oil Burner Service Inc., ME; Dan Falcone, Approved Oil, NY; David Foster, Wilcox Energy, CT; Jeff Hammond, Star Group L.P. - Corporate, NY; Ray Hart, Hart Home Comfort, NY; Kevin Grant, Sprague Operating Resources LLC, NY; Mike Januario, Sunshine Fuels & Energy Services, RI; Jim Jones, Carlin & Hydrolevel (C. Cowles & Co), CT; Jason Lawrence, Chevron, IA; Roger Marran, Energy Kinetics Inc., NJ; John McCusker, Global Companies LLC, MA; Jesse McNeely, Reitz Oil Co., PA; Ted Noonan, Noonan Energy Corp., MA; Anthony Silecchia, Star Group L.P. - Corporate, NY; Dan Singer, Synergy Commodity, NH; Claudette Townsend, Dead River Company, ME; Steve Walsh, Davis Oil Co., NY.

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