Bioheat®, defense
against natural gas
Biodiesel is an essential lifeline
for Cubby Oil & Energy, a
Massachusetts retail heating
oil dealer that is locked in
an existential struggle with
natural gas utilities.
Heating oil was once the predominant
heating fuel in Massachusetts, as it was
in many Northeast states. Over the last
three decades however, the
region’s utilities have used
their financial advantages
to capture market share by
portraying natural gas as the
“clean” alternative to “dirty”
heating oil.
Serving homes and
businesses within 30 miles
of Boston, Cubby has
watched the utilities eat
into their market share,
according to owner Charlie
Uglietto. His strategy has
been to accelerate blending
biodiesel with petroleum
heating oil, creating
Bioheat® fuel, enabling
Cubby to tell a winning
story.
Cubby’s journey to
cleaner fuel began more
than 10 years ago. “I initially
adopted the inclusion of
a proprietary fuel additive
that helped mitigate
unscheduled service calls.
Several years later, I was introduced to
the National Biodiesel Board’s leadership;
they were visiting New England to
experience firsthand how biodiesel was
having a positive impact on the heating oil
community.
Following that meeting, I was convinced
that with biodiesel, which is the
renewable component of Bioheat®, my
family business and the industry at large
would benefit greatly.”
“I don’t know how anyone could be
in this business for a period of time and
not realize that as an industry, if we don’t
transition to a greener fuel, we’re just
counting the days until we’re no longer
in business.” “Either we’re going to be
legislated out of business or the industry
as a whole is just going to become extinct.
The idea that we are delivering a carbon-based
fuel that is seen to destroy the
environment and the equipment in which
it is used, is not something that is going to
sell for much longer.”
At that time, Massachusetts was on the
verge of enacting a mandate for blending
5% biodiesel into heating oil (which was
never enacted) compelling Uglietto to
“seize the opportunity before me.” “I
wanted to make the most of what a 5%
blend could deliver, then work on moving
to higher and higher blends
as time went on. It’s no secret
that the oilheat industry had
been plagued with an ongoing
public relations challenge and
Bioheat® would be just the
strategy to turn it all around—as
it has at Cubby.
“The natural gas companies
have been able to dictate the
narrative so that we were
always considered the worse
fuel, the dirtier fuel. Obviously,
they were extremely successful;
they cut into our business by 30
to 40 percent in Massachusetts
over the last 20-plus years. We
wanted to jump out in front of
it, and we changed the name to
Bioheat® fuel, and now, years
later we have Bioheat® Plus™
and Bioheat® Super Plus™
referring to blends up to 100%
biodiesel.’
Consumer awareness of
Bioheat® was minimal, so Cubby
Oil made some noise. “We don’t
sell oil, we sell Bioheat®.
We started to educate our customers
through our newsletters and everything
else we could get our hands on about
this new fuel that was better for the
environment.”
Home Heating Oil Distributor
Charlie Uglietto
President, Cubby Oil
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