Blog

14th Annual Cargas Energy Summit Adopts ‘Hybrid’ Approach in 2022

Cargas Energy Summit returned in-person this year, bringing more than 170 energy industry professionals to the Lancaster Marriott at Penn Square in Lancaster, PA. The annual event gives Cargas Energy customers and partners the opportunity to take part in educational sessions, get a glimpse of upcoming features and enhancements, and connect with one another.   After two years with a virtual-only ...

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Tapping the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve

Will the Biden Administration release fuel oil from the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve? As of this writing the industry, and consumers, were still waiting for the president to respond to a letter from New England senators requesting that Biden do so. The Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve (NHHOR) is a one-million-barrel supply of ultra-low sulfur distillate set aside to ...

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Best Practices to Win Chargebacks

Disputes, also known as Chargebacks, have seen an increase within the delivered fuel space and pose a potential threat to fuel marketers this heating season. A dispute is when a customer contacts their credit card company or bank after a purchase is made requesting a refund for the goods or services purchased using their card. Compared to other industries, Fuel ...

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A New Website Can Improve Your SEO

Michael Dobson, SEO Specialist at Consumer Focus Marketing shares his expertise on search engine optimization: Have you noticed that your website pages are not appearing as high up in Google search results as you would like? Maybe your website used to be featured more prominently in search, but lately, you have noticed that you’ve dropped? If this is the case, ...

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Marci Gagnon: Offering Mobile Payment Options

The past couple of years have accelerated the need for advancements in payment technology within the Energy Industry. Tech savvy consumers are seeking modern payment methods that they trust and are familiar with and the largest request from customers is to make payments via their cell phones. Like most businesses today, Marketers are no doubt familiar with cell phone payment ...

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Welcome to the No-Margin-for-Error Zone

It’s official, today’s tumultuous market conditions are beyond challenging for Fuel Dealers, as they must execute all aspects of their business with supreme precision in order to survive and thrive. The rules have changed as we’ve reached a unique crossroads with no margin for error. Utilizing technology to help run the business more effectively is paramount as some expenses are ...

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Hedging in a Volatile Market

Offering the consumer price protection from rising oil prices has been part of many an energy marketer’s offerings since the late 1980’s. I believe Wyatt Energy, a Connecticut-based wholesaler, was the first to offer the heating oil dealer the tools to hedge in the form of so-called wet barrel contracts in future months. Heating oil marketers quickly adopted this unique ...

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How to Reduce Card Acceptance Rates

It’s been a long-held practice that the card brands make rate adjustments twice a year in April and October. After delaying some interchange fee increases because of the pandemic, the card brands have implemented the planned 2022 increases this April.  This year’s pricing updates are less noticeable than past years with most changes impacting dues and assessments, which are tiny ...

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My Connection to the War in Ukraine

Inna, my wife, is from Mariupol, Ukraine. We lived in Mariupol for a time to care for her elderly parents, and for other business reasons. We are in Alabama today. I built a team of students in Mariupol. The team books and dispatches calls for our business. Every team member made it out of the country this morning except one: ...

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Answers to America’s Clean-Energy Challenge

Five heating fuel industry leaders respond to the key question: ‘What’s one thing our industry can do to help secure our place in the clean-energy future?’ By Sean Cota, NEFI and Tom Tubman, AEC It’s not every day you get three of the country’s biggest heating oil wholesalers together in the same room alongside the leaders of the National Oilheat ...

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