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November Propane Education & Research Council Meeting Yields Exciting New & Enhanced Projects
During the November Council meeting, council members approved the 2022 budget plan as well as approved multiple propane industry programs including incentives, partnerships and residential and commercial research and development programs.
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New Council Appointment: Joseph McGinn, Energy Transfer (Newtown Square, Pa.,), was appointed by GPA Midstream Association to replace Nicholas Calabretti.
The Council approved the following funding requests: Docket 23033: Propane Engine Fuel Service Training Program, $290,100
Cerritos College and the ATTE Center has been a leader in clean fuel technology training and education for over 30 years. As a part of the statewide college system in Advanced Transportation & Logistics, Cerritos has the connectivity to both industry fleets, government entities, and educators to expand knowledge on clean fuels in the marketplace. Autogas is the third most popular clean fuel in the world but is less understood in the U.S. marketplace. Despite the fact that 28 billion gallons of propane were produced in the United States in 2019, only 9 billion were used by the domestic consumer. Nevertheless, fleets using propane can reduce NOX emissions by 96% with near zero particulate matter. As increased carbon reduction mandates continue to be a primary concern throughout the nation, it behooves subject matter experts in the transportation sector to ameliorate the lack of awareness about this clean fuel option.
Objective: Increase the number of trained service technicians competent in autogas. Allow technicians in the workforce to be versed in the properties, technology, and safety requirements.
Cerritos College has been providing alternative fuel training for over 25 years. The existing curriculum primarily supports training in CNG, hybrids, and EV vehicles. Autogas/propane has been a neglected technology, particularly for those CTE programs that are not designed for technician training in medium and heavyduty equipment. The OEM market in medium and heavy-duty vehicles that utilize propane is expanding, including shuttle and school bus manufacturers. This provides the optimum opportunity to build a larger, well-trained workforce of technicians through new educational capabilities and course development. Equally crucial to recognize is that the average automotive technician is 55 years old, therefore, it is important for educators to acknowledge that skills gaps will most certainly exist in medium-duty vehicles and equipment technicians in the near future.
Docket 23150: UTD Consortium 2021, $145,000
It is recommended that PERC co-fund four projects with the Utilization Technology Development (UTD) members this year.
These projects represent opportunities to grow market share and combat the electrification of everything in residential and commercial markets. All four of the projects benefit our goal of growing users and uses by demonstrating that propane can be energy for everyone. PERC is working on system integration with PV and storage, commercial heat pump water heating in two projects, and demonstrating that cooking with propane does not have a negative impact on indoor air quality.
Additionally, the last project will demonstrate improvements that could be made to in-home ventilation systems so that the cooking effluents that are negatively impacting IAQ can be better exhausted from the home.
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PERC’s contribution of $145,000 is leveraged with other members of UTD, manufacturers and U.S. Department of Energy funding for a total project value of $1,056,000.
Docket 23151: Axiom Energy Black Start Project, $250,000
Axiom Energy currently manufactures the Ecopower 4.4 kW m-CHP unit powered by the Marathon Engine. We currently have this unit scheduled for lab testing to demonstrate CARB compliance ahead of an in-field demonstration managed by the California Energy Commission to complete CARB DG (Distributed Generation) certification. The current design of the unit requires grid connectivity to start or motor the engine. For this unit to maximize its opportunity in the market, we believe black start (grid independent) capabilities are critical. Axiom desires to undertake this upgrade, but would be delayed by two to four years so that sales of the current model could generate the cash flow necessary to fund the project.
Axiom desires to partner with PERC to provide a no interest loan instead of a grant to expedite the adoption of this technology and increase the sales rate of units into the field and accelerate propane’s market share growth. A portion of each unit sold would be dedicated to the repayment of the line of credit.
Docket 23156: Propane Construction Incentive Program 2022, $1,000,000
The construction incentive program awards incentives for homebuilders, commercial builders and other construction professionals who install propane appliances in their building projects. The end goal of the program is not just incentivize construction professionals, but for PERC to collect data from across the country to demonstrate that electrification in the building environment does not equal decarbonization. By calculating the emissions reductions from propane homes that are built in 2022 vs their allelectric counterparts, PERC will use the Energy Planning Analysis Tool (EPAT) to gather the data for this project and test this hypothesis. The EPAT compares the grid emissions information from EGRID and the energy that will be consumed in a home based on the specific efficiencies of the appliances installed including HVAC, water heating, clothes drying, etc. The tool allows for the comparison of the components of the home built on propane with a home that could have been built with allelectric appliances built in the same area.
Minor changes to this year’s program include continued use of the incentive’s portal developed in 2021 that is proprietary to PERC.
Docket 23163: 2022 Market & Industry Training, $210,000
This funding request supports industry and market training through three different programs:
Train-the-Trainer Training for HVAC & Plumbing Professionals: PERC held three years of train-the-trainer before the pandemic. Now that we are hoping
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for in-person events to be back in 2022, this event which has proven to be a huge success for instructors and plumbing/ HVAC professionals, will pick back up. This year we will focus on the full HVAC and Plumber Technical Training curriculum, teaching school instructors the curriculum and how to use it in their own classrooms and training programs. We are offering the attendance first to those individuals chosen for the class in 2020, and will use the new funds requested for promotion to new attendees.
Expanded Environmental Training for Propane Marketers: We will be working with our vendor partner, GP Strategies, and a working group of PERC and industry members, to create three modules that expand on the training in How to Talk About Propane and the Environment. With our new brand change and the need to stay in the national energy conversation, these trainings will give confidence to propane marketers of any job title on the facts around propane and the environment.
Workforce Outreach Digital Ad Campaign: This project will continue the focus on creating awareness of the propane industry as a viable career choice for several segments of the potential workforce (students, veterans, and those transitioning). We will continue the digital ad campaign that drives prospective students to https://propane.com/about/careers/ careers-in-the-propane-industry/ and the related resources and job boards. PERC will lead these efforts in partnership with GRP and Elevation.
Docket 23173: 2022 Partnership with Industry Organizations, $1,495,000
The purpose of the Partnership Agreement is to foster a strategic alignment and an effective allocation of resources primarily among the propane industry’s three national nonprofit organizations in order to support collaboration and to enable the parties, consistent with the priorities and roles and responsibilities specified in the Partnership Agreements, to better protect and promote the interests of the industry, consumers, and the public.
This funding request in support of the Partnership Agreement is organized into eight categories of activity.
They are: 1. Qualified Industry Organizations 2. Advisory Committee Participation 3. Codes and Standards 4. Research and Development 5. Agency Outreach, Industry & Public Affairs 6. Environmental and Decarbonization Movement Efforts 7. Workforce Outreach 8. Industry Conferences and Conventions
Docket 23155: Annual Sales Report (2021), $242,500
This project includes funding to conduct a survey of the retail propane industry and to provide a state by state assessment of U.S. odorized propane sales by end-use sector. The Propane Education & Research Act of 1996 requires PERC to distribute 20 percent of the funds collected through this assessment to state propane entities proportional to the amount of odorized propane gas sold in each state. PERA also requires PERC to limit the share of total PERC investment in the on-road market to no more than the share of the total propane market used in the engine fuel market. Currently, there are no publicly available data sources reporting odorized propane sales by state, or for the engine fuel markets.
Presidential Approvals. Since the Council’s last meeting, Tucker approved nine no-cost change orders for time extensions:
Docket 22718 — CETP Modularization Project Phase 2, March 31, 2022.
Docket 22786 — 2021 Integrated Marketing Communications, April 30, 2022.
Docket 22665 — Micro-Combined Cooling, Heat & Power, Dec. 31, 2021.
Docket 21600 — Light Commercial/ Residential DG-enabled SmartWatt Boiler, July 31, 2022.
Docket 22618 — Ford 7.3L V8 LPG Industrial Engine, Dec. 31, 2021.
Docket 22104 — 2020 Agriculture Integrated Outreach Campaign, Sept. 30, 2022.
Docket 22623 — Ford 3.5L V6 on LPG, Dec. 31, 2021.
Docket 22214 — 2020 Advisory Committee and Program Support, May 31, 2022.
Docket 22932 — 2021 Industry Engagement, April 30, 2022.
He also approved one no-cost change order for a scope change and time extension:
Docket 22767 — Propane Utilization in Transportation and Power Generation: Review Paper, Jan. 31, 2022.
PERC will hold their next meeting on February 2, 2022 in Palm Springs, CA.
