Before the
Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission
Of The State Of California

The California Energy Commission's Fuels and Transportation Committee (Committee) will conduct a one-day workshop to discuss the initial results of a legislatively directed study to evaluate building a pipeline from the U.S. Gulf Coast to California for transporting petroleum products.

Background

Assembly Bill 2098 directed the State Energy and Resources Conservation and Development Commission, in consultation with the State Fire Marshal, to study the feasibility of financing, constructing, and maintaining a new pipeline, or utilizing or expanding the capacity of existing pipelines, to transport motor vehicle fuel or its components from the U.S. Gulf Coast to California.

The California Energy Commission hired Interliance Inc. to assist with the analysis. The report, Gulf Coast to California Pipeline Feasibility Study, will be made available on the Energy Commission's website at www.energy.ca.gov/fuels/pipeline/documents/ in advance of the workshop. Another independent consultant, Drew Laughlin, was retained by the Energy Commission to examine the availability of petroleum products for this pipeline and alternative means of transporting these products to the West Coast. The reports, Supply Potential for Petroleum Products in the United States Gulf Coast and Marine Product Tanker Fundamentals, Economics and Outlook, will be available in advance of the workshop. The assumptions and findings of these reports will be discussed at the workshop.

The Committee has asked the Energy Commission staff and the consultants to present their findings at this public workshop. The outcomes of this effort will have important long-term implications for the State as well as the stakeholders. Therefore, industry experts, government, and others are being requested to critique the staff and contractors' assessment and provide comments and feedback on the results of the reports to be presented in this workshop.

Comments

The Committee encourages interested parties to present their views either orally at the workshop or in writing following the workshop. Written comments will be accepted until March 26, 2002. The original comments plus 11 copies should be submitted to the Docket Unit to become part of the public record. Mail comments to:

You may also submit your comments by e-mail to [pperez@energy.state.ca.us]. The original and 11 copies must still be sent to the Docket Unit. Please refer to Gulf Coast To California Pipeline Feasibility Study in your submittal, Docket 02-PFS-1.

NOTE: Audio from this workshop will be broadcast over the Internet. For details, please go to www.energy.ca.gov/realaudio/index.html.

Additional Information

For further information on how to participate in this workshop, contact the Energy Commission's Public Adviser, Roberta E. Mendonca at (916) 654-4489 or toll free at (800) 822-6228. If you require special accommodations, please contact Priscilla Ross at (916) 653-6631 at least five days before the workshop. Technical questions should be directed to Pat Perez, Office Manager of the Transportation Fuel Supply and Demand Office, at (916) 654-4868. Media inquiries should be directed to Claudia Chandler in the Energy Commission's Media and Public Communications Office at (916) 654-4989.