NCWM DIESEL GALLON EQUIVALENT STANDARD UPDATE

As we get closer to this summer’s NCWM vote on the diesel gallon equivalent, support continues to grow for the measure. On May 12th, the presiding officer of the Oklahoma Senate joined with the presiding officer of the House in forwarding Concurrent Resolution Number 42 to Oklahoma’s Secretary of the State. The resolution pronounces the Oklahoma legislature’s strong support for adoption of the diesel gallon equivalent standard. The resolution also states that the legislature would “object to any standards proffered by the National Conference of Weights and Measures which require natural gas motor fuels to be sold in units other than diesel and gasoline gallon equivalents.” The resolution indicates that it is to be distributed to the Governor, the members of the State Corporate Commission, and to the Executive Director of the National Conference of Weights and Measures.

Yet another Governor, the fourth to weigh in on this issue, Gary Herbert of Utah, has written to the National Conference of Weights and Measures Association to express support for the diesel gallon equivalent proposal. Governor Herbert’s letter notes that “dispensing natural gas in equivalents is uniform across the industry, and is quickly becoming the standard for the taxation of both LNG and CNG. Reversing course now would affect negatively uniformity already present in the marketplace, constitute an additional economic cost to industry with little evident benefit to consumers, and disregard the precedent set by the NCWM many years ago.” The letter was addressed to NCWM Chairman John Gaccione as well as to key NCWM committee chairs.

Finally, on May 1st, 54 members of the U.S. House of Representatives signed onto a letter addressed to U.S. Secretary of Commerce, Penny Pritzker. The letter expresses support for the current GGE standard that has been in place for over 20 years. With regard to the current proposal before NCWM, the letter urges the National Institutes of Standards and Technology, which serves as an advisor to the NCWM, to work with industry to “find common ground and a process and a standard that is of benefit to all parties.” The letter also states that the congressional members “strongly oppose efforts by NCWM to require that natural gas be sold in kilograms.”

All of this helps and is great news, but we still need members and supporters to contact their state weights and measures official to encourage them to support the DGE proposal. Specifically, urge them to the support the DGE proposal set out in Items 237-2 and 337-2; these items are included in Publication 16 and will be voted on this summer.