The Propane Education & Research Council (PERC) redesigned its buildwithpropane.com website, which now has a more streamlined look to make it easier for residential and commercial building professionals to find information about propane training, research, resources and products. Users will find the latest propane news and trends on the homepage, along with PERC’s Propane Product Directory, which expanded from 350... read more
The 300-square-foot building was a welcome space to jump-start a retail propane business. But steady growth over 40-plus years forced Houston-area Buster Brown Propane to continuously add onto its property in every possible direction. After a while, Buster Brown simply ran out of room. “We had engineers look at that building, and we had added onto it all that we... read more
A device that automatically records and transmits to a laptop, tablet or smartphone the amount of propane remaining in a commercial or residential tank earned its creator an M2M Evolution Business Impact Award. Technology Assurance Labs’ OWL (Overhead Wireless Logic system) received recognition because it “successfully leveraged M2M (machine to machine) and the IoT (Internet of Things) to solve a... read more
In the Know is a monthly partnership between LP Gas magazine and Propane Resources. Our focus this month is on safety, addressed by financial consultant and business valuations and sales expert Tamera Kovacs. Q. In our travels, we sometimes hear that propane retailers should go above and beyond selling gas in order to grow their business and the industry. What’s your message to propane retailers who... read more
Heaven was awarded a gem. Zane Chastain, the endearing longtime editor of LP Gas Magazine, passed away this summer. He was 83 years old. For those of you who didn’t know Zane, this dedicated man started with LP Gas in 1974 and served many roles, including publisher, advertising sales representative, photographer and designer. He remained publisher into 2000 and was... read more
The Propane Council of Texas (ProCOT) will hold its third annual Texas Propane Emergency Responders Training event September 29-30. It is geared to anyone involved with propane-related emergency and incident response activities, including propane retailers, fire fighters, emergency response trainers and hazmat personnel. The 16-hour educational session will take place at the Brayton Training Field at TEEX in College Station... read more
MarkWest Energy Partners LP plans to add midstream infrastructure at its Keystone complex in Butler County, Pa., to support growing rich gas production from the Marcellus Shale and Upper Devonian formations. According to a press release, MarkWest will build two 200-million-cubic-feet-per-day processing plants called Bluestone III and IV. The company expects the plants to be operational during the fourth quarter... read more
Safe, low-carbon energy solutions already exist in the form of liquefied petroleum gas, says James Rockall, CEO of the World LP Gas Association (WLPGA). So why do politicians and energy-industry leaders still talk about the need to develop new energy solutions? That’s an issue WLPGA will try to address at its 27th annual World LP Gas Forum from Oct. 28-30... read more
Weigh your options to shield customers from runaway propane prices A confluence of events last winter put pressure on propane supply points and wholesale propane prices. Some propane retailers who thought they were prepared entering winter were caught scrambling to find propane at any price. The high prices were passed along to end users, as they should be for those... read more
