Last Call – Room Block Expires Today!

We’ve tweeted. We’ve emailed. We considered skywriting but that one broke the budget. In all seriousness, if you haven’t already booked your hotel room for the PFI Annual Conference it is imperative that you do so today as our room block expires. While that doesn’t mean the hotel is sold out, it does mean that the hotel will be able to charge market rates for those same rooms. There’s a Luke Bryan concert in Hershey during our event so I expect the step up in room rates might be significant. If you’re on the fence about how many folks you’ll be bringing to the event, I’d urge you to be strategic when booking. You can always cancel a room if you’ve made the determination NOT to bring the extra person you were thinking of having to attend the show.

To book your room at the contracted rate, simply follow this link.

But with that in mind…

Why wouldn’t you bring a big crew to the conference? Our golf tournament WAS sold out, but we’ve been able to negotiate with the course to add another 10 golfers. I’m thrilled with the response to the golf tournament and am hopeful that the weather cooperates. On Friday, we’ve still got plenty of seats available for our Hearth & Home Technologies – Halifax appliance manufacturing facility tour. I know it’s Friday and the urge to get home in time to enjoy a complete summer weekend is real but give later flight schedules a close look. This facility is impressive and will go a long way in rounding out your understanding of the broader pellet heating supply chain in which we all participate. We’ll work hard to ensure that the bus will return to Hershey no later than the published time of 12:15. I booked a 2:20 flight out of Harrisburg with 100% confidence that I’d be able to make the flight. Give it a look, the scenic drive from Hershey to Halifax alone makes it worth it to say nothing of the state-of-the-art production facility that is the marquee attraction.

Legislative Update – BTU Act Reintroduced Again

For over a decade the broader biomass heating community, including the Pellet Fuels Institute has been working to correct a policy oversight that omitted biomass heating systems from a 30% investment tax credit that is awarded to installers of other renewable energy systems, including wind and solar. Thankfully, the bill’s champions and House and Senate co-sponsors Senator King (I-ME), Senator Collins (R-ME), Representative Welch (D-VT) and Representative Kelly (R-PA) refuse to let it die. Longtime PFI friend and ally Charlie Niebling tell me the bill has widespread support in the Northeast but needs to find some friends in other corners of the pellet producing world. Charlie graciously offered a fact sheet and a letter template, both of which we will post on the PFI website for your use. If you spend the 10 minutes to send your elected representatives a note, I will.

Congratulations to Louisiana Grill Winner Joe Breen

If you are a faithful reader of the Pellet Wire or follow the PFI or me on Twitter you were aware of our registration and room night promotion we put together with the generous help of conference Gold sponsor Dansons. The winner of the LG-900 Louisiana Grill is Joe Breen, ELB Capital Management. Congratulations Joe. You’ll love the grill.