NEFI Is Now the National Energy & Fuels Institute
NEFI, the trade association formerly known as the New England Fuel Institute, has changed its name to the National Energy & Fuels Institute. The new name formalizes the organization’s mission and longtime leadership role as an advocate for liquid heating fuel providers in Washington, D.C., and throughout the country.
NEFI announced the change on July 1 in a statement issued to the industry. Here is the statement, slightly edited:
“NEFI has served these mostly small Main Street family businesses since it was founded in 1942, and that will never change,” said President and CEO Sean Cota. “What has changed is the essential role they play in the clean-energy economy; and their need for a single, unified national voice at the national level to promote their interests.”
The term “liquid heating fuel providers” best defines wholesale and retail distributors of home heating oil, a product that is rapidly changing, Cota noted. The majority are small, and family owned and operated, and many now offer consumers a product blended with biodiesel and other advanced biofuels, commonly referred to as Bioheat Fuel. Some states, such as Rhode Island and New York, even require its use.
At a summit organized by NEFI last September in Providence, Rhode Island, more than 300 industry stakeholders from across the Northeast unanimously adopted a resolution to dramatically reduce the industry’s greenhouse gas emissions. The Providence Resolution promises to cut greenhouse gas emissions from heating oil by 40 percent by 2030 and deliver a net-zero liquid heating fuel to consumers by 2050. The resolution has since been adopted by every state and local heating oil association in the nine-state Northeast.
“The Providence Resolution’s widespread adoption shows that NEFI is successfully bringing the entire heating fuel industry together for its future,” said outgoing NEFI Board Chairperson Peter Aziz. “We believe our new name better reflects what NEFI is, where our members work, and the essential products and services we provide.”
NEFI is now the first direct-member national trade association to exclusively represent the liquid heating fuels industry, which serves approximately six million homes and businesses nationwide. For decades, the organization has been assuming a larger role on national issues important to liquid heating fuel providers, resulting in greater interest in association membership across the country. NEFI is a non-partisan, nonprofit trade association that has served Main Street energy providers since 1942. In addition to federal and regional advocacy, NEFI offers regulatory compliance assistance and education, a national drug and alcohol testing program with driver regulatory compliance support, weather and degree day forecasts, and competitive insurance options, and publishes a monthly magazine. It also hosts the Heating & Energizing America Trade Show (HEAT Show). For more information, visit nefi.com.