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CINCINNATI — Coin laundry owners and operators may want to follow the progress of a new strategic partnership between Procter & Gamble and the Alliance to Save Energy, a nonprofit organization that promotes energy efficiency worldwide through research, education and advocacy.

Their collective effort will be to publicize the environmental and energy-savings benefits of washing laundry in cold water. The Alliance will work with P&G’s natural resource education initiative called Future Friendly to provide consumers with the information they need to convert from hot/warm-water washing habits to cold-water washing.

Heating of water is a major use of energy. When doing laundry, heating water can account for up to 80% of the energy used per wash load in the United States. By moving to cold water, Americans could reduce CO2 emissions by up to 11 million metric tons annually, P&G and the Alliance say.

A major barrier to adopting cold-water washing habits is the consumer worry that washing in cold water will not clean as effectively as warm/hot water. To combat this notion, a P&G detergent specially formulated to perform optimally in cold water will be showcased.

P&G Future Friendly will work with the Alliance as part of an Earth Day-focused campaign that encourages consumers to change their laundry habits for the better. Featuring a Facebook sweepstakes, pop-up events and media activities, the campaign will utilize Alliance-provided data and consumer-friendly language to illustrate the environmental benefits of cold-water washing and drive consumer action.

JAMAICA, N.Y. — After 16 months of preparation and renovation, Gold Coin Laundry Equipment opened its new showroom and expanded parts department last week.

The showroom featuring fully operational Dexter washers and dryers is part of a 5,000-square-foot expansion that converted old, empty warehouse space, the distributor says.

Gold Coin President Douglas Pratt says the company had customers in mind while planning the expansion. “At times, our parts customers were crammed in at the counter. Now, with a total of 13,000 square feet to work with, that doesn’t happen; plus, we have more room to stock more items and disappoint fewer customers.”

Besides the Dexter equipment, Gold Coin now has room to display the Whirlpool line, plus ancillary products such as Vend-Rite soap venders, change machines by Standard Change-Makers, and a NATCO on-demand water heater. Customers can even try out Standard’s easyPAY kiosk.

Gold Coin has scheduled several events this year, including a March 28-29 grand opening, to show its customers the full potential of the equipment it sells.

The new showroom and expanded parts department is located next door to the distributor’s original location, 91-16 143rd St. in Jamaica.

WASHINGTON — The Henry Hub spot price averaged $4.31 per MMBtu in May, six cents higher than the April average and 11 cents higher than forecast in the agency’s previous report. This increase is reported amid growing consumption, even though inventories remain robust and the production forecast was “revised upward significantly.”

U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) expects total natural gas consumption will grow by 1.4% to 67.1 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in 2011. Forecast industrial and electric power consumption are expected to rise 3.1% to 18.7 Bcf/d in 2011 and 0.4% to 20.3 Bcf/d, respectively, the report says.

Projected total consumption rises slightly in 2012 to 67.2 Bcf/d, according to the EIA. Growth continues in the industrial sector at 1.6%, as the natural-gas-weighted industrial production index rises 2.7%. Consumption also increases in the electric power sector (2.1%). Residential and commercial consumption, however, decline by 2.8% and 2.2%, respectively, stemming from the forecast decline in heating demand for natural gas, the report says.

Working natural gas in storage was 2,107 Bcf at the end of May, 237 Bcf below last year’s level at this time. Inventories, though lower than last year, are expected to remain robust due to higher production throughout the 2011 injection season, the agency says.

The 2011 production forecast has been revised upward significantly due in part to unexpectedly strong March production reported in EIA’s latest report. The agency now expects total U.S. marketed natural gas production to increase by 4.5%, up from the 2.3% predicted in last month’s report.

EIA expects that the Henry Hub price will average $4.25 per MMBtu in 2011, a decline of 13 cents from the 2010 average. The agency says that the slowing growth in production will contribute to a tightening domestic market next year with the Henry Hub price averaging $4.58 per MMBtu in 2012.

Meanwhile, route drivers can expect gas prices to remain high. It’s the same old story: crude oil supplies are expected to tighten amid growing demand in the emerging economies and slowing growth in non-OPEC supply. The EIA reports that crude oil spot prices averaged $103 per barrel in March, $110 per barrel in April, and $101 per barrel in May. The agency predicts per-barrel prices in 2011 to average $102, compared to 2010’s $79 per barrel.

WASHINGTON — Natural-gas inventories are expected to remain high through 2011, resulting in an average Henry Hub natural-gas spot price of $4.16 per million Btu (MMBtu) for the year, $0.22 per MMBtu lower than the 2010 average, according to the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) latest short-term energy outlook.

EIA also expects that total natural-gas consumption will remain flat through 2011. Residential and commercial consumption are expected to decline by 0.3% and 2.4% respectively, primarily because of changes to EIA’s methodology for collecting and reporting natural-gas consumption data.