A tanker truck travels hundreds of miles during a hurricane to help keep the lights on for local homes and businesses across state lines. A small- business owner donates fuel to help power and heat testing sites and temporary hospitals on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic. A heating fuel delivery driver answers an after- hours call, helping to keep an elderly homeowner warm and safe on a cold winter night.
Small acts of heroism like these are everyday activities for the essential Main Street businesses the National Energy & Fuels Institute (NEFI) represents.
These companies — most of which are family-owned and -operated small businesses — are vital to the customers and communities they serve, just as the renewable liquid heating fuel products and reliable cost-effective services we provide are essential to the country’s current and future clean-energy supplies.
Who We Are
Since 1942, NEFI has been a leading voice for wholesale and retail liquid heating fuel distributors. The National Energy & Fuels Institute now represents hundreds of independent energy providers as the single, unified voice for the nation’s renewable liquid heating fuel industry.
Our trade association maintains offices in Southborough, Massachusetts and Washington, DC while our members maintain close relationships with their fellow community leaders in major metropolitan areas and small towns across the country.
The average retail fuel dealer:
- Is a multigenerational family business
- Provides essential products and services
- Is a true Main Street business with an average of 52 employees
- Delivers warmth, comfort, and safety to thousands of homes
- Employs 13 fully licensed delivery drivers
- Employs 12 fully licensed service technicians
- Offers cost-saving budget and pre-payment plans
- Has embraced carbon reduction through conservation, energy efficiency, and blending of renewable fuels
What We Do
NEFI members provide millions of homes and businesses with environmentally responsible, economically practical, renewable liquid heating fuel. This product, also commonly referred to as Bioheat®, is blended with biodiesel and other advanced biofuels to help reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and minimize our carbon footprint.
Blends of up to 20 percent biodiesel (B20) are common throughout the industry, reduce carbon emissions by 15 percent compared to petroleum-based no. 2 heating oil, and are immediately deployable as they require little
to no modification. In fact, NEFI’s Massachusetts office, a mid-19th century New England building, is heated with blends of up to B35. Higher blends from B50 to B100 have also been successfully tested, are now being adopted by industry pioneers, and will soon become more widely available as they offer the most readily achievable and cost-effective solution for state, regional and nationwide climate action plans. Renewable liquid heating fuel offers the most readily achievable and cost-effective solution for greenhouse gas reductions in the building sector.
In addition to providing reliable heat and energy for America’s homes and businesses, our members install and service next generation high-efficiency heating systems and safety-reinforced onsite fuel storage tanks that are capable of standing up to even the most extreme climate conditions. As this technology continues to evolve, so
too does the skill set of our specialized home comfort technicians.
We deliver:
- Renewable liquid heating fuels
- Blends of biodiesel and other advanced biofuels
- High-tech energy-efficient heating appliances
- Expert installation, maintenance and repairs
- 24/7/365 emergency response to heating outages
Our Policy Priorities
NEFI continues to support commonsense policies that resonate with our Main Street businesses, support good-paying local jobs, and help keep consumers safe and warm. Our members are looking to Congress and federal agencies to support their transition to renewable fuels and help preserve our climate for future generations.
We support:
- An enforceable and transparent Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) that increases our industry’s supply of advanced biofuels and remains unhindered by arbitrary small refinery exemptions
- Additional funding for renewable fuel incentive programs, such as the USDA Higher Blends Infrastructure Incentive Program, which helps heating fuel distributors deliver a more affordable and readily available clean-energy solution
- Transportation job programs that increase our industry’s pool of qualified drivers while providing long-term employment to out-of-work Americans
- Commonsense regulatory reforms, such as the recently approved hours of service extensions that allow our members’ businesses to continue delivering their essential products and services whenever and wherever they are needed most
- Full funding for the federal fuel assistance program (LIHEAP) to help struggling families, seniors, disabled veterans, and other needy Americans pay their heating