LP Gas, July 2014

Winter of 2013 14 THE cHallEngEs THE sOlUTIOns Consumer outreach One step marketers would like the Department of Commerce DOC to take that would allow them to better educate consumers about the benefits of summer fill and ultimately improve winter supply is to eliminate the financial restriction on PERCs educational outreach activities The restriction was put in place in 2009 amid rising propane prices and the propane industry continues to lobby against it The industry argues DOC has used incorrect data to determine that PERCs educational outreach activities were driving a disproportionate demand of consumer grade propane compared to competitive fuels According to NPGA DOC mistakenly considers the Propane Education and Research Act PERA to be a law focused on residential propane use only The law however states PERA covers the residential commercial agricultural internal combustion and industrial markets The formula DOC uses is problematic Box said in the meeting with Petersons office We think we have a pretty good chance of getting the restriction lifted None of us want to see a repeat of last winter Well do anything we can to make sure it doesnt happen again We want to be prepared for it if it does According to NPGA the industry has tried to make its case regarding the restriction directly to DOC in the past but with no favorable results Now the association is asking Congress to urge DOC to use data published in the Energy Information Administrations Petroleum Marketing Annual According to NPGA this is the only current published source of annual national and public propane price data as PERA requires Minnesota marketers meet with Rebekah Solem a legislative assistant to Rep Collin C Peterson D Minn Sen Mary Landrieu D La wrote the best letter arguing our point and she only recently got a response Squair said DOC responded and said they were convinced its a residential only law The House and Senate are keyed up on this law We need to go back and up the level of concern we have Greg Noll executive vice president of the Propane Marketers Association of Kansas PMAK expressed his concerns about the DOC interpretation in a meeting with Republican Rep Tim Huelskamps office We have our hands tied on how to promote this industry Noll said Were still restricted by this dinosaur interpretation If industry representatives didnt have their hands tied Noll and others argue propane marketers could better edu The government and your business What role can the federal government play in easing the winter pains youll experience going forward Heres a look at four federal departments and agencies as well as actions the industry is urging them to take to help alleviate supply and distribution problems Department of Commerce DoC the problem DOc has restricted the Propane Education Research councils PERc consumer education activities since aug 4 2009 The growth in residential propane prices compared to competing fuels exceeded a statutory threshold outlined in the Propane Education and Research act of 1996 the legislation that created PERc as a result a consumer protection clause kicked in and PERc has been limited to efforts pertaining to safety and training and research and development However since the restriction took hold the Energy Information administration EIa has stopped collecting this price data measuring residential consumer grade propane prices used by the DOc in its analysis the solution If DOc used EIa published data from the Petroleum Marketing annual the only relevant data currently available DOc would find PERc is not exceeding the threshold the national Propane gas association nPga says Thus the DOc restriction would be lifted and the industry would have more funds available to promote its product encourage summer load and better avoid winter supply pitfalls On a separate note nPga also believes DOc should publish timely data on propane exports energy information Administration eiA the problem Unavailable and untimely EIa inventory data impacted propane marketers purchasing decisions last winter and was a contributing factor in the shortage the solution nPga crafted three solutions for EIa One is to collect more comprehensive data on propane storage including separate data for propane and propylene EIa 42 LPGas July 2014 www LPGasmagazine com