Sen. Susan Collins led the pellet heating industry to an important milestone.
In a hearing with Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shawn Donovan, Collins pointed out the extraordinary technological advances in pellet central heating and bulk pellet transportation and the importance of the fuel source to the oil-dependent Northeast.
She implored Donovan to consider listing pellet boiler systems as “conventional primary heat sources” for FHA purposes.
Donovan publicly appreciated Collins’ alert about the rapidly growing technology and its importance to the Northeast, and announced that HUD regulations had been modified to include pellet boiler systems as “conventional primary heat sources” when they meet the same requirements as other central heating systems.
Collins’ efforts on behalf of the people of Maine and an emerging New England industry exemplify what can be good about government. That the senator convinced a substantial Washington bureaucracy that it needed to modify its regulations in light of technological change speaks well for both the senator’s abilities to persuade and the secretary’s willingness to hear.
Harry “Dutch” Dresser, president
Maine Pellet Fuels Association
Bethel
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