Written on: January 20, 2025 by Joe Uglietto
Just like that, it’s 2025. I hope you all enjoyed a very Happy New Year and have hit the ground running towards another successful season in our challenging—but never boring—industry.
I’m tackling a topic that is absolutely boring, yet also absolutely critical for you to understand. If you operate your business in Vermont or Massachusetts, plan to take notes, make copies or do whatever you need to in order to become familiar with what I’m about to share. If you operate in any other State, pay close attention, because you may be reading about rules that will find their way to your home State.
As part of their aggressive emissions reduction programs, Vermont and Massachusetts have moved forward with the implementation of significant emission reporting requirements. According to these requirements, all heating oil, propane, natural gas and diesel companies will have to register with the State and report their sales in the form of carbon dioxide emissions.
While both States have indicated that the list of registered companies will be made public, they have also indicated that the type of fuel sold and the total gallons sold will be kept confidential. The only data that will be made public is a list of company names.
For the time being, we’ll have to take the Vermont and Massachusetts at their word when it comes to confidentiality, but this will be important to monitor in the coming years.
Here is what the reporting structures look like in each State.
Vermont
30 V.S.A. §8124(b)(1) requires that every entity selling fuel in Vermont or selling fuel into Vermont register annually with the Vermont Public Utility Commission (PUC). The deadline to register was in early 2024. This will be an annual registration and reporting requirement, as all entities that sell heating fuel in or into Vermont will have to report their total fuel sales of heating oil, biodiesel, propane, kerosene and natural gas.
The registration requires companies to list their legal name, address, types of heating fuel sold and the exact amount of each type of heating fuels sold in or into the state for final sale. This regulation will allow the PUC to have a list of all potential obligated parties in a Clean Heat Standard (CHS) and know the exact number of gallons each company sells, ultimately resulting in their obligation under a CHS.
This reporting requirement will also provide the State with the data needed to update the Vermont Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory & Forecast reports. With this data, the State will be better able to project its GHG emissions and whether it has met its legislatively-mandated GHG reduction targets.
Even if the CHS is not implemented in Vermont—and based on recent events, it may be replaced with an alternative that is potentially more damaging to our industry—the fuel dealer registry and emissions reporting will remain.
Massachusetts
310 CMR 7.71 requires companies selling and distributing heating fuels to homes and businesses in Massachusetts (including suppliers of natural gas, fuel oil and propane) to register with the State and report their fuel sales quarterly. It also implements a reporting requirement for all fuel storage facilities in Massachusetts. The registration deadline for all companies and storage facilities is Jan. 31, 2025. Any company that isn’t registered by this deadline will face fines from the State.
Registration requires the legal name of the supplier, Federal Employer Identification Number, primary business address and contact information for the designated representative. Once the company or storage facility is registered, there will be a quarterly reporting requirement. The Massachusetts Dept. of Environmental Protection (MA DEP) has indicated that it will provide further guidance prior to the first quarter reporting deadline on April 30, 2025. Companies will likely be required to report all fuel sales in Massachusetts, whether that is heating oil, propane, natural gas, kerosene or biodiesel. The quarterly reports will allow Massachusetts to measure the gallon sales and total emissions from all heating fuels within the State.
The MA DEP has also indicated that sellers of the transportation fuel known as “clear diesel” will also have to register under 310 CMR 7.71 and report on a quarterly basis. Despite clear diesel not being a heating fuel, the MA DEP has included it within the reporting regulation.
This reporting regulation and registry will allow the MA DEP to measure all fuel sales and fuel companies within the State, providing it with a comprehensive list of all potential obligated parties within a CHS. This reporting requirement is a vital first step in the implementation of a CHS in Massachusetts, with the current expectation that the CHS will go into effect in 2026 after a full year of reporting data from 310 CMR 7.71.
If you operate in Massachusetts or Vermont and you haven’t already done so, I would strongly recommend that every company designate someone within their organization to be the point person for these programs. Details can quickly get complicated and the penalty for missing out on a step in the process could be severe. You’ll be well-served to have a homegrown expert who is responsible for tracking developments and executing on the new requirements. ICM
Renewable Energy Insights is a regular column by Joe Uglietto, President of Diversified Energy Specialists, with a focus on emissions reductions & renewable energy innovation. DiversifiedEnergySpecialists.com
