Reminder – Hotel Cut-Off Date is this Tuesday, August 29 for the BECS Committee September 20-21, 2023 Meeting in Cleveland.
As a reminder, the hotel cut off date for the September 20-21, 2023 BECS Committee meeting at the Westin Cleveland Downtown in Cleveland, OH is coming up on Tuesday, August 29, 2023. Hotel registration and BECS Committee meeting registration information is attached.
DOE Issues Pre-publication of 2023 Representative Average Unit Costs of Five Residential Energy Sources. Natural Gas Continues to be the Best Energy Value.
On Wednesday, the Department of Energy (DOE) issued a pre-publication notice forecasting the representative average unit costs of five residential energy sources for the year 2023 pursuant to the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (Act). The five sources are electricity, natural gas, No. 2 heating oil, propane, and kerosene. Below is the representative cost for the 5 sources in terms of Per Million BTU’s and in dollars:
Electricity …………………………………………$46.19 per million Btu or 15.76 cents/kWh
Natural Gas …………………………………….. $13.97 per million Btu or $1.397/therm or $14.49/MCF
No. 2 Heating Oil ……………………………… $28.36 per million Btu or $3.89/gallon
Propane ……………………………………………$32.62 per million Btu or $2.98/gallon
Kerosene ………………………………………… $33.52 per million Btu or $4.53/gallon
These costs become effective 30 days after publication the Federal Register and are used in determining the estimated annual operating cost of appliances covered in the Federal Trade Commission appliance labeling rule. FTC Energy cost labels (yellow stickers) that are required on some appliances use the representative energy cost to provide consumers information on the annual operating cost of the specific appliance. Note that the estimated national average cost of electricity is 3.3 times more than the cost of natural gas and this natural gas cost advantage for consumers needs to be considered by proponents for “electrification” and natural gas bans and their continued push for electrification by not allowing or supporting removal of natural gas appliances from homes and businesses.
DOE Rejects Gas Industry Request to Extend the Public Comment Period by 30-days on the NOPR for Consumer Water Heaters.
Last week, we reported on the joint request of the AGA, APGA, NPGA, and Spire Inc., to extend the public comment period 30 days (attached) on the DOE notice of proposed rulemaking (NOPR) pertaining to energy conservation standards for consumer (residential gas, electric and oil) water heaters. Today, the DOE rejected the request (attached) citing that the department “continue to believe that the comment period length is appropriate and provides a meaningful opportunity to comment on the NOPR. Therefore, DOE is denying the request to extend the comment period.”
State Codes Activity Update.
Attached is a weekly feature of the “Friday Update” covering state code calendar activities as presented by the online utility “Fiscal Note,” which is sponsored by APGA and AGA Code and Standards. Please review the update and determine if there are state code activities that impact your service territory or organization.