The finalists appear below. The text in the poll links to the video on YouTube and each video is embedded after the poll. Vote for your favorite. You can only vote once per day. Voting closes September 2. Polls are now open. It’s not too early to get started for next year either. If you have a video you want to submit, just send an email to me at dgibson@aga.org

Quality of life

Smell natural gas

Gas conversion 3%

Safety rap

Heating

Old water heater

Lifetime achievement marks a triumphant moment in anyone’s career, but for Kevin this recognition is symbolic of an important milestone marking 25 years with AGA. Kevin has been an integral part of affecting the growth and development of AGA while witnessing dynamic changes in the association world as a whole. Notably, in 1999 he oversaw AGA’s transition from Arlington, VA to Capitol Hill where the association was able to function in close proximity to the legislative and regulatory bodies that oversee the industry.

Here at AGA, we not only applaud Kevin’s accomplishment; we thank him for his exceptional work and dedication and cheer him on towards his future achievements.

A couple weeks ago I got pinged at least a dozen times about a certain video. People sent me links through email, Facebook, Twitter, etc. You know the video in question. I’m sure you got them, too. We weren’t alone either. The video is creeping up on one million views and that doesn’t include different versions or embedded ones.

According to YouTube people are watching hundreds of millions of videos a day and uploading hundreds of thousands of videos daily. In fact, every minute, ten hours of video is uploaded to YouTube. Facebook estimates that more than 10 million videos are uploaded by users each month.

Yep, everybody loves video.

One of my first interactions with AGA members was at the communications and marketing meeting last fall. As I was preparing to give my presentation on blogs, a ton of people came up to me with last minute requests. “Can you show our new commercial during the break. We’re really proud of it.” Or, “We’ve got this video that we think the group would like.” And so on. All of them were well done. I’m sure anyone there that day still remembers the polar bears.

Over the past year we’ve seen those great videos keep coming. From member companies to our partners, we just saw some great work telling the natural gas story. The story that we need people, including legislators, to understand.




One of my favorites. I may have to recues myself when this one comes up for voting.

People talk about vision all the time. Here’s a vision for you. We are going to build a place that holds all the best videos that answer the question “Why is natural gas so great?”

Here’s what we’re going to do.

AGA is putting together a contest. Anyone is eligible and can submit a video by leaving a link to the video in the comments below or emailing me at dgibson@aga.org. We’ll need to get your entry by August 31. We’re going to separate the videos into categories (safety, natural gas, natural gas utility) and select a group of finalists that will be voted upon on this blog by our readers. The winners will receive:

• An award to commemorate their achievement
• Free registration (up to two people) to the AGA communications and marketing meeting with an opportunity to speak about their experience making the video
• A spotlight profile here on True Blue Natural Gas
• An official AGA press release recognizing them to our media contacts

Most of you have already done the work. This is just a chance for recognition for that hard work. It’s also a chance to shine a spotlight on the natural gas industry. In a world where video can catch fire, AGA is looking for our natural gas video that can go viral. Help us find it.

Ugh…I can’t resist. Enjoy.

Twelve Safety Achievement Awards were given to companies that achieved the lowest “DART” incident rate – a mathematical calculation that describes the number of recordable injuries and illnesses per 100 full-time employees that resulted in days away from work or restricted work activity.

Additionally, five companies earned Vehicle Safety Achievement Awards by experiencing the lowest motor vehicle accident rate for companies of their type.

Kudos to these companies for going the extra mile to ensure that their employees and their customers remain safe.

Safety Achievement Award winners include, by category:

Local Distribution Utilities

Mega:                          Enbridge Gas Distribution (North York, Ontario)

Very Large:                 Dominion East Ohio Gas Co. (Cleveland, OH)

Large:                          Citizens Energy Group (Indianapolis, IN)

Comgas (Sao Paulo, Brazil)

Medium-Large:           Dominion Hope (Clarksburg, WV)

Medium-Small:           Equitable Gas Company (Pittsburgh, PA)

Small:                          Columbia Gas of Maryland (Cumberland, MD)

Combination Utilities

Large:                          PECO Energy (Philadelphia, PA)

Medium:                      Central Hudson Gas & Electric (Poughkeepsie, NY)
Montana-Dakota Utilities (Bismarck, ND)

Transmission Companies

Large:                          Tennessee Gas Pipeline (Houston, TX)

Medium:                      Eastern Shore Natural Gas (Dover, DE)

Vehicle Safety Achievement Award winners include, by category:

Local Distribution Utilities

UGI Central Penn Gas (Reading, PA)

Combination Utilities

Consumers Energy (Jackson, MI)

Transmission Utilities

CenterPoint Energy Pipelines (Houston, TX)

Small Member Companies

Crossroads Pipeline (Bremen, IN)

Northern Indiana Fuel & Light (Auburn, IN)

The CCFC is one of nearly 90 Clean City Coalitions participating in the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Clean Cities Program. The mission of the National Clean Cities Program is to reduce petroleum dependence, improve air quality, and expand alternative fuel use and technology. The program promotes, accelerates, and expands the use of alternative fuels in the transportation sector. Working through locally-based government- industry partnerships, the Clean Cities Program seeks to expand the use of alternatives to traditional gasoline and diesel fuel. The DOE classifies the following fuels as “alternative fuels”: biodiesel, electricity, ethanol, hydrogen, methanol, natural gas, propane, and solar energy.

Some of the initiatives that Piedmont was recognized for include:

• Piedmont’s “no idle” policy for its entire fleet of utility service and distribution vehicles as well as various employee programs around carpooling to work
• Walking to lunch instead of driving during the ozone season
• Refueling vehicles after 6:00 p.m. to reduce VOC (volatile organic compound) emissions
• Acquiring two natural gas forklifts for use in its Distribution Center replacing units that used propane or gasoline
• Maintaining several vehicles in its service and distribution fleet that run on natural gas.

Congratulations again to Piedmont for some well-deserved recognition.