Preparing for Change Before You’re Forced To
Written on: December 15, 2025
Author: Joe Uglietto
With each passing month, we get closer to many of the Northeast States’ self-imposed deadlines for developing and implementing market-based decarbonization programs for the thermal and transportations sectors to meet their 2030 greenhouse gas reduction goals. At the same time, policymakers and regulators in these States are delaying the implementation of these programs in the face of high electricity and fuel costs after a cold Winter last year, and concerns that these programs could be politically unpalatable.
This push and pull has allowed everyone to choose which narrative they like best and make decisions accordingly. If you want to see a Clean Heat Standard (CHS) in place in your State, you’re betting that there will be one sooner than later. If you hope these programs just go away, you’re viewing the delays as the first step in the eventual elimination of these programs.
I am here to tell you one thing: Our industry will have to do business with Clean Heat Standards, Cap & Invest Programs and other market decarbonization programs. This is not an “if” issue—it’s a “when” issue.
Whether you’re a fuel company in Massachusetts waiting for the CHS draft regulation, a dealer in Pennsylvania just learning of the pending Clean Fuels Standard legislation or a business in Vermont waiting on the next iteration of its decarbonization programs, the time to prepare for what comes—whenever it comes—is now. Here’s what you should be thinking about.
1. Secure your biodiesel supply. Ensure you have reliable access to qualified biodiesel sources. Biodiesel will be the key to staying ahead of these programs. Blending biodiesel with heating oil will reduce the cost of compliance and potentially even create profits within these programs. Establishing relationships with biodiesel suppliers in the area is a great first step when preparing for these programs.
2. Strengthen your cash flow. Build financial flexibility to navigate credit costs, training timelines and compliance shifts. These programs will increase the capital needs of all businesses. Whether that is purchasing allowances in a Cap & Invest program before even selling a gallon of fuel or the increase cost of biodiesel in a CHS, heating fuel retailers will need to have access to additional capital in order to continue running their business.
3. Train your team. Educate drivers, technicians, customer service representatives and managers about biofuels and regulations. Making sure your entire staff is on board with your transition to low-carbon liquid fuels is extremely important. They will be in customers’ homes and speaking with customers about the change in fuel that is being delivered.
4. Educate your customers. Proactively communicate the benefits and reasons behind fuel changes. Marketing emails, seasonal fliers and other marketing materials will be important to get ahead of the changes the State has imposed. The State will be marketing heat pumps while increasing the price of fuels, so getting ahead of their marketing and speaking to your customers will be important for customer retention.
5. Start decarbonization planning. Integrate pricing credits and the cost of compliance into fuel strategy. Explore forward credit trading in the markets. Opportunities to increase margins and profits within the programs will exist for those who plan ahead. Decarbonization planning will become as important as tax planning for each business within these programs.
These programs will be highly profitable for the companies that are prepared. At the same time, they can be devastating to businesses that aren’t ready to operate effectively within the new business environments that will be created. Whenever these programs finally launch, I hope that you will be on the winning side of the ledger.