From the Director's Desk: Election Watch – Part II of an Ongoing Series, June Pellet Data Recap, Alert: New Recycling-Label Law Impacts Pellet Bags in California
Election Watch – Part II of an Ongoing Series
The race to fill the Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Gary Peters (D) features a contest between Mike Rogers (R) and Abdul El-Sayed (D). While Michigan has two PFI members operating within its borders (Michigan Wood Fuels and Lignetics – White Pigeon), the PFI hasn’t had significant involvement with the congressional delegation from the Wolverine State. On our most recent fly-in (May 2026) we met with Rep. Bill Huizenga (MI-4) and a legislative assistant on Sen. Elissa Slotkin’s team. This race will be very interesting indeed, depending upon how the elections across the country play out and which party wins control of which chamber(s) in November.
Mike Rogers spent 14 years representing Michigan’s 8th congressional district and served on the House Energy and Commerce while a member of that body. His campaign website reveals little about his energy positions apart from believing in an “all of the above” energy strategy and largely opposing clean energy mandates and subsidies.
Abdul El-Sayed has spent his career in public health. He has a doctorate in public health from the University of Oxford and earned a medical degree in epidemiology from Columbia University. Most recently he served as the director of the Wayne County Department of Health and Human Services. His campaign website features progressive language with regards to the environment and El-Sayed expressly notes that he will “codify the Endangerment Finding into law, so no future administration can strip the EOPA of its authority to regulate greenhouse gases by executive order." His website makes clear he is no fan of fossil fuels and instead promises to fight for a “pathway to 100% renewable energy."
My suspicion is that El Sayed knows little to nothing about renewable biomass. Because of his time on the House Energy and Commerce committee, I’ll give Mike Rogers the nod on being more familiar with our product.
However the election shakes out, the PFI will immediately go to work to connect wood pellet manufacturing with the forest products manufacturing sector within the state and appeal to either Rogers “all of the above” approach to energy policy, or El Sayed’s drive for 100% renewable energy goal by helping him realize that the most effective renewable energy technology for heating Michiganders homes in the middle of winter is wood pellet heating.
June Pellet Data Recap
Early this week the EIA posted their June 2026 wood pellet data, providing a comprehensive look at the first half of 2026. Through the first six months of the year, production in the East is up nearly 15% (511,667 tons in 2026 vs. 447,830 tons in 2025). Sales, too, have jumped with producers in the East having sold about 50,000 more tons of pellets than they had last year over the same period. The result, of course, is that the inventory build producers normally achieve in the summer is falling behind. At the end of June, producers in the East had just 104,647 tons of inventory on hand, an all-time low for the month. Producers in the East will need to maintain this pace throughout the summer and well into fall to satisfy retailer demand. In the month of June, pellet manufacturers sold 111,902 tons of wood pellets, an all-time high for the month and a sure sign that retailers and consumers alike haven’t forgotten that pellet availability was tight at the close of the 2025-26 heating season.
Inventories in the West aren’t quite as bloated as they were last year at this time (102,616 tons in 2026 vs. 118,398 tons in 2025) but are still well above the 5-year rolling average of 88,262 tons. The data showed a significant sales jump in the West from May to June, a pattern that has played out each June for the past three years. This year, June sales in the West were 30,922 tons up from 9,839 tons in May. This marks the third consecutive year where monthly sales at least doubled from the month prior. With lackluster winters, it seems unlikely that this boost in pellet sales is being driven by consumers within the region and feels, instead, feels like inventory being repositioned closer to a market that is looking at low inventory levels.
Total sales in the United States remains remarkably consistent for the last three years and at 641,236 tons, sales this year are within about 8,000 tons from totals achieved over the same time frame in both 2025 and 2026.
All eyes are on the inventory levels out East, and I’ll be very interested to see if producers there were able to lay in some more inventory in July. Since 2022, producers in the East have added an average of 16,615 tons of inventoried product in July. I don’t think we’ll maintain that average this year based on my conversations with producers. I expect the production will be there, but I suspect that like June, July will show higher than average sales in the region, limiting a much-needed inventory rebuild. It is important to remember, however, that so long as production is able to meet or exceed averages, the market will eventually find a balance. Consumers remembering thin supply at the end of the 2025-26 heating season may buy their supply earlier, but they won’t burn them until the thermostat tells them it is time. As such, the spike we are seeing in the region for pellet sales will correct itself unless winter comes on strong right away. Purchases made this early in the heating season are speculative. Will it get cold? And when? Replenishment purchases are rooted in fact; do I have enough pellets to get me through spring? If yes, mid-season sales slump. The truly special years for the wood pellet sector feature not just cold temperatures, but also cold snaps peppered throughout the heating season driving replenishment purchases.
Alert: New Recycling-Label Law Impacts Pellet Bags in California
Members shipping product into California should take note of SB 343, the state's "Truth in Recycling" law. Beginning October 4, 2026, pellet bags manufactured after that date can't carry the chasing-arrows symbol, a resin triangle, or any "recyclable" claim unless the material passes California's strict 60/60 test—collected by programs serving at least 60% of the state's population, and actually sorted and reprocessed into new feedstock.
The practical hit falls hardest on plastic film and multi-layer bags, which report only about 28% collection access statewide—well short of the threshold. Paper and kraft bags fare better but still must clear the processing half of the test.
The good news: SB 343 runs on manufacture date, not sale date. Bags filled and sealed before October 4 can keep selling with existing labels, even after the deadline.
But enforcement is currently on hold. On July 14, a federal judge in California League of Food Producers v. Bonta granted a preliminary injunction barring the Attorney General from enforcing SB 343, finding the law likely unconstitutionally vague and a First Amendment problem. The ruling is broad—it applies to any business, not just the plaintiffs.
The catch: it's preliminary, not final. Litigation continues, California is expected to appeal to the Ninth Circuit, and the injunction may not clearly cover enforcement by local jurisdictions or private parties. The October 4 deadline is technically still on the books.
For more information, click here.
