ESC GFEN NA Consortium Minutes 022020

ESC GFEN/NA Consortium Minutes from February 20, 2020 Meeting was called to order at 2:04 pm Eastern Time Attendance: AGARF Southeast Alabama Gas District Will Bumpers APGARF Lake Apopka Natural Gas District Monica Marlow Atmos Energy Greg Anderson Black Hills Energy Ruth Hietbrink CenterPoint Energy Ann Lovcik GTI Frank Johnson National Fuel Marti Sawyer Spire Ramona Stevens Spire (Missouri Gas Energy) Craig Layman Update from Greg Tomsick, Relationship Manager: Greg reminded everyone that he has a busy travel month coming up. His plans currently are as follows: ESC TMAF – Phoenix, AZ March 2-5 Restaurant Facility Manager Association, RFMA – Denver, CO March 8-10 National Association of College & University Food Services, NACUFS Continental-Pacific Conference - Colorado Springs, CO March 22-25 (This is a regional conference) Edison Electric National Key Account Workshop, EEI – Atlanta, GA March 28 – April 1 If you are aware of another conference that would benefit GFEN/NA please speak with Greg or Barb. Also, if you would like Greg to visit a customer or an affiliate member who is located near or in any of the cities Greg plans to visit let him know ahead of time so he can adjust his plans accordingly. Greg next provided an update on the work he has been doing with Tony Nguyen, Southern Company, to get Race Trac to start using natural gas tankless water heaters. Race Trac had initially agreed to test units at 2 locations. However, they decided not to proceed with the test as they felt it was too expensive of an experiment and there were several hurdles to getting natural gas installed in their facilities. Greg did note that Race Trac will be at EEI, in addition to Tony and himself, and they are hoping to discuss this in further detail on a face-to-face basis. Greg also mentioned that he will be looking to expand his work from foodservice into lodging. If anyone has any good contacts please pass them on to Greg. Greg Anderson, Atmos Energy, shared some thoughts on the Race Trac situation. He cautioned that those facilities are difficult to serve with natural gas as the buildings are surrounded by concrete (literally!). Greg A questioned if we could get one existing facility to install gas, as a retrofit, and then spec natural gas for new construction? Greg T acknowledged that retrofit installations would be difficult and we may have to settle for new construction. Greg did state that he and Tony will be discussing the possibility of using gas for more appliances (ie: rooftop units) and not just for tankless water heating. 2020 Blue Flame Award: Barb wanted to thank all of the members who helped to solicit companies to submit an application for the 2020 Blue Flame Award. We ended up receiving 4 new entries: Garland for a high-performance broiler, Venancio for a Genesis series range with convection oven, and Wood Stone submitted two applications; one for a rice cooker and one for a gas plancha. You may recall that Wood Stone presented at the Customer Care Workshop that was held this past August in Minneapolis and also cooked on the gas plancha. These four entries join an entry from 2019 that was not selected, the Marra Forni brick oven. The 5 applications have been sent to our judges. The award will be handed out at the National Restaurant Association Show which will be held in Chicago from May 16 – 19. Chef Preference Study We discussed on our previous call that we should consider updating the Doug Fryette study pertaining to chefs’ preference for cooking with natural gas. Barb contacted Doug and he will be preparing a quote for the consortium to vote on. We also discussed adding several questions to gauge the effects of the electrification movement. Doug noted that he has been following this issue and he will prepare several questions for us to review. Barb also asked Doug about the Size and Shape of the Industry study which he is also involved with; Doug stated that will not be available until late summer. Future Format for Meetings In an effort to have a larger audience on our monthly calls, we would like to consider adding some elements to entice people to dial in. Ann Lovcik from CenterPoint Energy asked about having a different utility share something on each call. Maybe they had a recent successful campaign, maybe a not-so-successful experience. All are worth sharing with the group and result in a learning experience for all involved. We would also like to get our affiliate members more involved with the consortium. I can send an email to affiliates and see if we can work up a schedule for them to present a brief webinar during our calls. Maybe someone has a new appliance coming to market? Greg Anderson, Atmos Energy, agreed this would be a worthwhile change. If any members want to speak during an upcoming call just let Barb know so she can add you to the agenda. Barb will handle sending an email to affiliates. If any member is aware of a manufacturer who should present, Barb can reach out to them as well. That might be a good first step toward convincing a manufacturer to join GFEN. Open Discussion Greg Tomsick shared what he has been working on in conjunction with Carl Peterson, Piedmont Natural Gas. Carl and Greg had initially had a conversation with Eric Crum of Sheetz prior to the Christmas holiday in 2019. Specifically, they had discussed tankless water heaters and gas vs electric fryers. In this update, Greg reported that he has provided information to Sheetz on where to get a portable flow meter. Sheetz currently has 2 locations with new electric fryers and 2 locations with new gas fryers. Sheetz had been able to submeter the electric fryers but had not been able to do the same with the gas fryers. Ann Lovcik raised the question of whether or not we need to do some marketing to get GFEN more notice in the industry. It was noted that we need to promote the tag line “Keeping Gas in the Kitchen”. Ann asked what people thought about creating an appliance cling that could be placed on equipment at NRA or NAFEM (2021) to designate that the manufacturers were GFEN members. While Barb agreed that was a good idea she was skeptical that we would have something in place for the NRA which is to be held from May 16 – 19 in Chicago. This might be a great idea for 2021. Ann was going to check with some internal folks with regard to timing. As far as attendance at NRA, Ann asked to remember when scheduling your flights that there is always the opportunity for GFEN/NA members to meet for a meal while in Chicago. Please let us know if you plan to attend the NRA so we can discuss opportunities to meet. Those who were on the call and plan to attend NRA were Ann Lovcik, Greg Tomsick, Frank Johnson, and Cortney Dennis. There will be a meeting in the booth of the Blue Flame winner to deliver the award. Greg Tomsick also shared that he is planning to tour GTI on Friday, May 15, while in Chicago. Anyone who wants to go along for the tour is welcome. And, if you are planning your calendar for 2021, NAFEM will be held from February 4 – 6 in New Orleans. With no further discussion the meeting was adjourned at 2:37 PM Eastern time.