Canadian Biomass Magazine

Patriot Energy to establish hog fuel ‘milk run’

November 29, 2010
By Patriot Energy Services

NEWS HIGHLIGHT

Patriot Energy to establish hog fuel 'milk run'
Patriot Energy Services is establishing new supply routes and new delivery prices from Florida to New York in an effort to set a precedent in the price of wood fibre fuel.

Nov. 29, 2010, Buffalo, NY – Patriot Energy
Services
is establishing new supply routes and new delivery prices from Florida
to New York in an effort to set a precedent in the price of wood fibre fuel.
After two years of planning, CEO Steven Johnson says he can capture the hog
fuel market for major power plants on the east coast, from east of the
Mississippi River to Florida and Maine.

In conjunction with major suppliers and
through agreements with national trucking companies, Johnson intends to
establish a "milk run," which enables delivery of fuel from New York
to Florida on the same truck for less than USD $35.00 per ton for six-inch or
less hog fuel to power plants up and down the east coast (sizing, moisture
content, and specialty wood fuel may vary the price). A test from Albany,
New York, to Buffalo, New York, was successful, with hundreds of trucks running
in the worst conditions. "Now is the time to expand that model," says
Johnson.

According to Johnson, the concept is not
new. Oil, gas, and power companies have been doing it for years. Instead of
pipelines or grids, Patriot Energy Services delivery is by truck and rail.
"What this does is put a face on the wood fuel renewable energy business,
stabilizes the market, and creates a commodity market, similar to oil, gas, or
electricity," says Johnson.

Patriot Energy Services has sold all its
in-woods operations to concentrate on building more transfer stations and fuel
storage facilities. The in-woods operations were only indicative to a normal
60-mile (~100-km) radius. The new supply line and delivery system is projected
to add over $30 million in revenue in 2011 and streamline the wood supply
process.

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