SNEEC Brings Nearly 300 to Newport

The fifth annual Southern New England Energy Conference (SNEEC) was held September 24-25 at the Newport Marriott in the lovely beach town of Newport, RI. A joint conference of the Connecticut Energy Marketers Association (CEMA), Massachusetts Energy Marketers Association (MEMA), and Oil Heat Institute of Rhode Island (OHIRI), SNEEC attracted 296 conference-goers this year, up 46 from the previous years’ average of 250.

Even without the increased attendance, however, the event was already set to be one of the most noteworthy SNEEC shows to date, as its deep programming tracks ensured as much. In addition to a number of exciting, standalone breakout sessions, SNEEC hosted two-day learning tracks by conference sponsor NEFI, Women in Energy, and the National Oilheat Research Alliance, which once again brought its annual Technical Workshop to the event. As conference partner, the National Biodiesel Board presented a General Session as well as the highly acclaimed Exploring Biodiesel (XBX) seminar, both on Monday September 24. The former packed some 200 attendees into the Newport Marriott’s Salon III/IV rooms. Monday’s Keynote Luncheon (pictured above), which followed the General Session, was also extremely well attended, with former White House policy advisor April Salas delivering a rousing speech on the power of disruption. Other memorable, full-house sessions included “Environmental Goals for Heating Oil Country,” which kicked off the NORA Technical Workshop, and the “Merrimack Valley Methane Explosion Disaster” update, a last-minute addition to NEFI’s Education Track.

SNEEC closed on Tuesday following the NEFI Membership and Board Meetings, at which it was formally decided that NEFI President & CEO Sean Cota would enter into negotiations with conference organizers regarding combining next year’s SNEEC event with the newly announced 2019 NEFI Energy Expo. Look for additional announcements, as well as a complete recap of the aforementioned SNEEC sessions and others, in upcoming issues of Oil & Energy.

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