 |
||
 |
March 9, 2012 NEWS AROUND THE STATE APPRAISAL SERVICE MEET THE FOLKS AT LIBERTY GAS MEMBER BENEFIT PARTNER MESSAGE A SPECIAL MESSAGE FROM BELLOMO FUELS POLITICAL PARTICIPATON: THE NJGCA PAC A CNG Future…Gasoline Gallon Equivalent (GGE) is $1.69 per gallon….and a better profit margin!!! When looking at the alternative fuels landscape from afar, trying to keep different technologies and emerging developments straight can be a bit confusing. It’s for that reason that NJGCA has worked to bring you some of these changes as clearly and as organized as possible through the Road Warrior, our Energy Examiner section of the On The Road newsletter, and other communications. As bewildering as it can all be, however, one alternative has quite a head-start on the others today: compressed natural gas (CNG). CNG is a fully developed technology, works with existing internal combustion engines (ICE), burns cleanly with virtually no pollutants, and can be used in contemporary vehicles with little modification. Furthermore, the US has proven natural gas reserves that would last America well into the next century – giving the nation the ability to take advantage of CNG resources today while fully commercializing other alternatives like hydrogen and ethanol for transportation uses tomorrow. The only area where CNG falls short is in the area of infrastructure, but even that is changing. Earlier this week, I was in Glassboro Borough in South Jersey to attend the opening of a brand new CNG refueling station. It was a great event and had quite a turn out! In fact, over 200 people showed up at the opening, and notable attendees included legislators, the President of the Board of Public Utilities, and even former NJ Governor James Florio (Governor Florio’s law firm works on energy issues and was involved with getting the station approved). Also in attendance were NJGCA allies like Chuck Feinberg from the Clean Cities Coalition and NJGCA-friendly legislators such as Assemblyman Chivukula and Assemblywoman Quijano. Take a look at some of the snapshots I took from the opening below:
A CNG dispenser: Looks quite a bit like an ordinary liquid fuel pump, doesn’t it?
Why the excitement and turn out? Well, unlike other mediums that may seem like decades from commercialization, CNG is being used today for fleet vehicles, company cars, public transportation buses, and to fulfill other business transportation needs. To use an analogy, the CNG train is out of the station, down the track, and building up steam – Will you watch it pass? Or will you get on board? Or will you get run over by the CNG train? Small business owners making an investment in future advances need to get all the facts before committing valuable dollars and resources. For that reason, I’m hoping to get a workshop on CNG up and running sometime in May. I bet a few of you think that NJGCA Members aren’t interested in making such an investment, right? Think again! I’ve already gotten calls from a handful of members interested in adding CNG. What’s more, I had no idea that he would be there, but NJGCA Member Larry Valenzano was so interested in CNG he came to the opening to learn more in person! You’ll remember Larry as the owner of Mighty Joe’s Gas, Grill & Deli in Shamong, and was the Member Spotlight in the June 2010 edition of On The Road. Among other notable accomplishment, we hailed Larry for having the foresight and resolve to sell E85 at his location, which has been profitable for his business. Getting back to CNG, I want you to pay particular attention to the acronym ‘GGE’ or Gasoline Gallon Equivalent. You’d be interested to know that, in terms of a gallon of gasoline, the price of a ‘gallon’ of CNG is roughly $1.69. Do you think your customers would like that? As a motorist, I know I would. What about profit? Well, CNG sells with bigger margins than what’s on a gallon of gasoline. Furthermore, unlike the gasoline market, you can get a supplier contract that will set the price of CNG over a one or two year period! That allows you to hedge your expenses while protecting your bottom line – just like airlines and transportation companies do! Some of you may be reading this and thinking, “What about the customers?” and that’s a valid question to ask. When it comes to CNG, what you may not realize is that your customers are literally all over the place. Those patrons come in the form of government-operated vehicles, corporate fleet operators, and related businesses. Why do they use CNG to power their vehicles? For the same reasons other motorists will do so: It’s cheaper to purchase, easy to maintain and operate, and presents an incredible value. The icing on the cake is that automakers are now creating “dual-fuel” vehicles that run both on gasoline and CNG. In fact, GM and Chrysler just announced this week that they will soon start offering half-ton pick-up trucks that will run on both. The idea here is to prevent the same kind of ‘range anxiety’ that all-electric vehicles create among motorists – where will I fill up (or charge up) next? In offering CNG and gasoline power together, a driver doesn’t have to worry about this and can merely use gasoline to power their vehicle until they hit the next CNG filling station. Click HERE to read more about these products. Of course, this doesn’t include the heavy duty machine operators, bus companies, waste hauling outfits and related businesses – all of which use CNG for their fleets. CNG isn’t going away and the only thing that is hindering wider acceptance is the infrastructure – which is where you come in. If the last few years have taught us anything, it’s that the total volume of gasoline sales will continue to shrink even as prices either climb higher or remain elevated at around $3.50 a gallon. If that continues, your business will almost certainly suffer since both forces will either diminish your total sales or eradicate your profit margins. But, if you had CNG to sell alongside ordinary gasoline and diesel fuel, you’d have an additional revenue stream to supplement your motor fuel sales – Is there any downside to that? Not that I can see! The gasoline marketplace is still in chaos, but the pressure eased up a bit as the price of gasoline fell ten cents over the last few days. The reason? Events unfolding in Iran and Israel. The political and public tensions ramping up between the two nations have created a great deal of fear in the energy markets. However, those tensions seemed to diminish a bit -- for this week anyway. Don’t count on it to last. Will that last long-term? That’s anyone’s guess, but it only serves as the latest reminder that all the experts in the world can’t tell you where prices will go or how long they will stay there. Kinda makes tapping a gas well in Pennsylvania or Colorado more appealing than guessing about the future of geopolitics in the oil-rich Middle East, doesn’t it? Are you or one of your employees looking to continue your automotive education? NJGCA will be offering the NJ Emission Inspector Training class later in March. For anyone who is not familiar with the course, in order to be licensed as a Motor Vehicle Emission Inspector, a technician must complete this course and pass a written exam given by the State of New Jersey. NJGCA offers this training in a one day, State approved training program that will provide an understanding of inspection related issues including EPA Regulations, Safety, Diesel, Customer Service and the New Jersey State Specific Curriculum. The course is specially tailored by NJGCA and fulfills all State requirements. Class Details: Class Fee: NOTE: A $50.00 license fee must also be paid to the State. Please bring a check made payable to NJMVC If you have any questions, please contact Debbie Hill at 973-376-0066 or email her at debbie@njgca.org Even as NJGCA works to reform the State Vehicle Inspection Program into an all-private and PIF-operated system, the actions of a few bad apples in New York State are casting a long (and negative) shadow on New Jersey small business owners. It seems that these guys deceitfully passed cars that would not have passed without some deceptive intervention on their part. NY smacked these rectums pretty hard with some serious fines, but their actions have tarnished the reputations of other honest inspection facilities including us here across the river in New Jersey. I am glad that they are not NJGCA members. If they were and had called me for help I would have told them to go suck an egg! It is morons like these guys in New York that cause consternation with NJDEP and EPA officials when discussing a move in New Jersey to have ALL Motor Vehicle Emissions Inspections performed in Private Inspection Facilities. The press release was sent to me by both NJDEP and NJMVC folks who know that I want to have NJ move to ALL PIF inspections. These rectums in the Bronx have just made my job more difficult. This week, I’m also sending along a video link from our Communication Director’s appearance on NBC News. As you’ll recall, Nick De Palma stepped in to do the interview a few weeks back while I was away attending a renewable fuels conference in Florida. We weren’t able to edit and post the video at the time, but as promised, we’ve made it available for you to view by clicking HERE THE POLICY PATROL: For this week’s Radar Screen I am throwing the spotlight on something you may have read about in the papers—a minimum wage increase. Members of the Legislature are pushing A-2162/S-3 to raise the minimum wage 17% to $8.75 an hour. This would make New Jersey’s minimum wage the third highest in the nation, behind Washington state and Oregon. Additionally, the bill would also mandate that the minimum wage be automatically increased every July 1st based on the Consumer Price Index. I submitted testimony to the Senate Labor Committee on Thursday stating the reasons for NJGCA’s opposition to this increase, which would take effect this July. An increase in the minimum wage won’t just affect those workers who are currently earning less than $8.75 an hour; it creates an upward pressure where every employee starts demanding more money. With high gas prices and dropping consumer demand cutting into your profits, the last thing you need to deal with is a jump in labor costs. You can read the full testimony I submitted to the committee by clicking here. The bill did pass out of committee and now awaits a vote in the full Assembly and the full Senate. It is likely to pass both house but then will need the signature of Governor Christie. Honestly, I have no idea what the Governor will do, but when the time comes, I will need you to write and call the Governor to voice your opposition. From the Manure Pile we are plucking out S-589, which “exempts persons engaged in braiding hair from cosmetology-hairstyling licensing requirements”. As if the government doesn’t regulate enough of our lives and our economy, it is currently against the law for someone to have their hair braided by a person who does not have some sort of special license. It really makes you wonder, who thinks of this stuff? Thanks for listening – See you next week. Regards,
NEWS AROUND THE STATE 3/8/2012: 3/7/2012: 3/7/2012: 3/5/2012:
TRAINING CLASSES!! PLEASE NOTE: FUTURE DATES WILL BE ADDED UPON REQUEST AND ACCORDING TO DEMAND. CONTACT DEBBIE at 973-376-0066 or DEBBIE@NJGCA.ORG TO LET HER KNOW YOU ARE INTERESTED IN TAKING A SPECIFIC CLASS. THIS WILL ALLOW US TO GAUGE YOUR NEEDS AND KEEP TRACK OF THOSE WISHING TO PARTICIPATE!!
MEMBER BENEFIT PARTNER MESSAGE TMP Energy Solutions We have had a number of NJGCA members successfully reduce their rate per kWh signing up through our energy saving program. We know it’s difficult to collect 12 months worth of previous electric bills to get an “accurate” analysis when comparing a variable rate to a fixed rate, but we now have another option available. This new solution is a power purchase option; the other program is still in full force and has saved members thousands of dollars. If you sign up for the power purchase option, you will be grouped with other NJGCA members until the minimum KW demand is acquired. By pooling the member’s usage together, you will be able to take advantage, as large energy users do, and receive a lower kWh rate. Each member will receive their own contract. Each member is responsible to sign and return the agreement the day it is received in order to secure the price for their group. Please do your due diligence, so when you receive the proposal and the agreement you will be able to make an intelligent decision. If by chance, you still want us to assess you bills, to give you a price to compare, we will require12 months of your most recent utility bills. There are no bills required, but we would still like to have one bill per meter on file to check account #’s, meter #’s service addresses and other pertinent information incase there is a problem. The term of the agreement is for 12 months. During this term period, you will have price protection against any energy price increases along with a low fixed kWh rate. If you are interested in becoming part of this power purchase option, please contact Phil Apruzzi at the NJGCA. Remember when you sign up your energy through the NJGCA Energy Program, TMP makes a considerable donation to the NJGCA Scholarship Fund through their proceeds. This has no affect on your rate, and costs you nothing out of pocket. We hope to help hundreds of NJGCA members reduce their utility costs by participating in this and our other cost reduction programs. Our purpose, in the endeavor, is to help NJGCA members lower their energy costs while supporting the NJGCA Scholarship Fund. Contact Phil Apruzzi at 973-376-0066 or email Phil at phil@njgca.org. Mention that you are interested in saving money on your energy bills. NJGCA & TMP Energy Solutions will handle all the rest.
POLITICAL PARTICIPATON: THE NJGCA PAC
Promoting our agenda in Trenton is of utmost importance to NJGCA and our members. We defeated BELOW COST SELLING We made history in getting FIRST RIGHT OF REFUSAL signed into law! We have built large support for RIGHT TO REPAIR and got it passed out of the Assembly We defended your small business against the false accusations of Attorney General Anne Milgram We gained wide support to move New Jersey to an all PIF Inspection System and close the CIF lanes ...and MUCH MORE!! In each instance, we achieved these goals with the help of our friends in the Legislature! If every member contributes just $100.00 we will be able to provide the help necessary to ensure victory for our allies. PLEASE SEND YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS TO: I understand that times are tough for all NJGCA members, but this is just as important as any battle we have fought in the past. We have made great progress in Trenton. I hope that you will answer the call. THE MEMBER TOOL BOX |
|
 |
||
