There is a tree in my neighborhood that year after year is the first tree near me to show the first signs of the oncoming fall color spectacle. Today there were a handful of tiny pockets of color sprinkled in one section of the tree. Fall is upon us and I, like many of you, look forward to the mercury bottoming out of those thermostats and the resultant call for more heat from thermostats all across the pellet burning regions of this country. In the past few weeks in conversations with our members it is clear that our retail partners are building inventories and more prominently featuring pellets at their locations. As an industry the feeling was that standing pellet inventories at retail and consumer locations were low and that the inventory build-up for the 2018-19 heating season would begin earlier this year. Based on what I'm hearing, I think we were right. 

Our committees have all had active summers and are all working towards some important milestones this fall, including preparing recommendations for the PFI board who will convene November 1-2 in Indianapolis. Here are some snapshots of what PFI committees are doing on behalf of the organization: 

Membership Committee

The membership committee has been asked by the board to evaluate our current PFI dues structure to ensure that it aligns with what is happening in the industry and is the structure most likely to provide the PFI with the resources it needs to do the work its members and its board want it to do. The committee will evaluate the current dues structure and if deemed necessary offer alternative membership structures for the board's consideration at the fall board meeting. Immediately the committee identified areas of dues calculation that are arguably a little too ambiguous including how non-space heating pellet sales are treated with regard to per-ton assessments. Are the PFI's rules regarding BBQ and absorbent (pet, industrial) pellet sales clear to everyone? Look for clear rule-making regarding sales of pellets for these uses to be rolled out later this fall at a minimum. Finally, the committee is actively evaluating the various membership types to ensure that it is clear who those membership types are for and that their dues packages are appropriate. The committee is working hard to ensure that the board has a recommendation in front of them when they meet in Indianapolis.

Standards Committee

As I reported in my last Pellet Wire column, the Standards Committee is awaiting the publication of the latest (and probably amended) New Source Performance Standard and its potential impact on the PFI Standards Program or pellet standards in general. The PFI believes in quality pellet production, but the organization's official stance is that federal regulations are no place for a fuel standard. Fuel standards can and do change as production technologies and downstream appliance technologies change. To some industry observers this position might sound like simple opposition to product quality. This couldn't be further from the truth. Around the time of our last committee meeting I was approached by a member of the green building media to explain our position. I authored the following statement as a means of doing just that:

"The Pellet Fuels Institute's opposition to the inclusion of fuel specifications and requirements within the New Source Performance Standard is not a reflection of the PFI's position on fuel specifications or fuel standards. In fact, the PFI is proud to have authored the most robust wood pellet quality standard program in the world, the PFI Standards Program. However, the PFI believes that codifying a pellet standard in a federal regulation is not necessary to achieve the goals of the regulation and would only serve to freeze in place a standard that has and will continue to evolve as necessary to accommodate changes in both pellet appliance and pellet production technologies." 

Promotions and Communications

The work of the Promotions and Communications committee over the summer focused on getting our social media beta test off the ground, funded and underway. Now the committee turns its attention to the PFI website. This is a herculean task and will hinge upon some of the strategic directions the board decides upon in Indianapolis. I'm into imagery and photographs and so I'm working with the committee to complete upgrade and reboot the images on our website. Finally, the committee is committed to producing a video but has decided that the video is too important to tackle until after the fall board meeting. For the video to deliver maximum value it most adhere closely to the direction the board sets for the PFI this fall.

Conference Committee

The conference committee has been dormant since the conference in June. Fall sees this committee come back into action and an aggressive schedule has already been established of having the conference agenda built just after the New Year. We're excited about what is already planned for our 2019 conference and would like the better part of 6 months to share our excitement with our members and industry colleagues. We had a great conference in Myrtle Beach and the challenge for the conference committee is raise the (chocolate) bar in Hershey.

- Tim Portz
Executive Director