Buckeye Partners said Friday it is taking steps to begin sending gasoline, diesel and other fuels from both directions in the western half of its cross-state refined fuels pipeline, after a Pennsylvania judge recommended rejecting the Houston-based company’s controversial application to fully reverse flow in that section.
The company is “actively undertaking the steps necessary to provide bi-directional service” between Altoona and Pittsburgh on its Laurel pipeline, it said in a statement Friday.
The 350-mile pipeline has carried petroleum products from the Philadelphia area to Midland in Beaver County for the last 60 years. In 2016, Buckeye filed an application with the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission to reverse flow 100 miles east of Pittsburgh so that refiners in Midwestern states can send more fuel to the middle of the commonwealth.
The change could affect fuel pump prices in Western Pennsylvania, but whether they would rise or fall is at the middle of the debate.
The reversal plan has been strenuously opposed by Western Pennsylvania fuel retailers and Philadelphia-area refiners, who said Friday they are “certainly suspicious” of the new plan for two-way flows.
Robert Malecky, Buckeye’s president for domestic pipelines and terminals, said the company’s new plan “provides shippers and suppliers with the choice to supply from either the west or east, while still increasing Pennsylvania consumers’ access to more affordable, lower cost North American-manufactured fuels.”
The company said it does not expect the bi-directional service to affect its original project costs or timeline. It will maintain its existing PUC tariffs and establish new tariffs for the Pittsburgh to Altoona section with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Administrative Law Judge Eranda Vero recommended that Pennsylvania public utility commissioners deny the reversal application in an advisory decision published last week.
The five-member commission can choose to follow the recommendation, modify it or reject it, and it has no clear timeline for action.
Mr. Malecky said, “Buckeye fully respects and remains committed to the ongoing PUC process.”
The Deny Buckeye coalition — which includes Giant Eagle GetGo, Gulf, Guttman Energy, Monroe Energy, Philadelphia Energy Solutions and Sheetz — said it will not take an official position on Buckeye’s new plan until it sees more details, but it appears the company “is now trying to take unilateral action” to circumvent the PUC process.
“Truly embracing bi-directional flow that meets the needs of Buckeye’s current customers — and being open to competition — are contrary to their position for the past 12-18 months,” the coalition said in a statement.
Laura Legere: llegere@post-gazette.com.
First Published: April 6, 2018, 2:26 p.m.
