Case No. RG272-00075
June 10, 1997
DECISION AND ORDER
OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Applications for Refund
Names of Applicants: Luckey Farmers, Inc.
Finland Cooperative Company
Florence County Cooperative
Dates of Filing: April 3, 1995
July 3, 1995
December 2, 1996
Case Numbers: RG272-75
RG272-654
RR272-290
This Decision and Order will consider the Applications for Refund filed by three applicants. The applications are based upon the applicants' purchases of refined petroleum products during the crude oil price control period (August 19, 1973 through January 27, 1981). Each applicant has requested a refund from crude oil funds available for disbursement by the Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) of the Department of Energy (DOE) under the provisions of 10 C.F.R. Part 205, Subpart V.
In the past, purchasers of refined products were allowed to apply to the OHA for a refund from crude oil overcharge funds collected by the DOE. 51 Fed. Reg. 27899 (August 4, 1986). We have established refund procedures for these funds, which have been made available through consent orders between the DOE and numerous firms that sold crude oil during the price control period. E.g., Berry Holding Co., 16 DOE ¶ 85,405 (1987); A. Tarricone, Inc., 15 DOE ¶ 85, 495 (1987); Mountain Fuel Supply Co., 14 DOE ¶ 85,475 (1986).
The refund procedures specify that in order to receive a refund, an applicant generally must: (1) document its purchase volumes and (2) show that it was injured by alleged crude oil overcharges. Applicants who were end-users of petroleum products, however, and whose businesses were unrelated to the petroleum industry are presumed to have absorbed the crude oil overcharges. These applicants need not submit proof of injury to receive a refund in the Subpart V proceeding. City of Columbus, Georgia, 16 DOE ¶ 85,550 (1987).
In general, an applicant is eligible for a refund equal to the number of gallons it purchased multiplied by the volumetric refund amount. Currently, the volumetric refund amount is $.0016 per gallon.
Each of the three applicants is an agricultural cooperative. Each application is based on petroleum products that the agricultural cooperative purchased for resale to the farmers who were its members. We regard a refund application filed by a cooperative that resold petroleum products to its members as a claim filed on behalf of the members themselves. Farmers Union Oil Co., 17 DOE ¶ 85,464 (1988). A cooperative can thus claim the presumption of end-user injury to the extent that its members were end-users. Consequently, we will consider granting a refund to a cooperative based on products resold to its members on the condition that it certify that it will pass through the refund to its members.
The farmers who compose the three cooperatives memberships are end-users. Each cooperative has certified that it will pass through any refund received to its members. We will therefore consider these claims under the presumption of end-user injury.
We have carefully reviewed the applications. Each applicant stated in its application its percentage of petroleum sales to non-members during the refund period. We have reduced each applicants approved gallonage claim by the percentage it indicated. We also contacted the applicants by telephone to verify that each is still in business. We verified that the records submitted are authentic and the gallonage claim is correct. Therefore, we are satisfied that each applicants gallonage claim is reasonable. The total volume approved in this Decision and Order is 31,550,080 gallons of refined petroleum products and the refund amount is $50,481.
The final deadline for the crude oil proceeding was June 30, 1995. It is the current policy of the DOE to pay eligible crude oil refund applicants at the rate of $0.0016 per gallon. We will decide whether sufficient crude oil overcharge funds are available for additional refunds for these and other successful applicants when we are better able to determine how much additional money will be collected from firms that have either outstanding obligations to the DOE or enforcement cases currently in litigation.
It Is Therefore Ordered That:
(1) The Applications for Refund filed by Luckey Farmers, Inc., Finland Cooperative Company, and Florence County Cooperative are hereby granted as set forth in Paragraphs (2) and (3) below.
(2) The funds shall be disbursed from the escrow account denominated Crude Tracking-Applicants 4, Account Number 999DOE010Z, maintained at the Department of Treasury.
(3) A total of $50,481 shall be disbursed as follows.
A check in the amount of $46,947 (Case No. RG272-75) should be sent to Luckey Farmers, Inc., c/o Dan Walski, 1200 West Main Street, P.O. Box 217, Woodville, OH, 43469.
A check in the amount of $1,753 (Case No. RG272-654) should be sent to Finland Cooperative Company, c/o Donald Seipke, P.O. Box E, Finland, MN, 55603.
A check in the amount of $1,781 (Case No. RR272-290) should be sent to Stephenson Marketing Cooperative, Inc., Re: Florence County Cooperative, W 505 South Drive, Stephenson, MI, 49887.
(4) Each applicant shall pass through to its members/patrons any refunds that it receives on a dollar-for-dollar basis.
(5) To facilitate the payment of future refunds, each applicant shall notify the Office of Hearings and Appeals in the event that there is a change of address, or if an address correction is necessary. Such notification shall be sent to:
Director of Management Information
Office of Hearings and Appeals
Department of Energy
1000 Independence Avenue, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20585-0107
(6) The determinations made in this Decision and Order are based upon the presumed validity of the statements and documentary materials submitted by the applicants. These determinations may be revoked or modified at any time upon a finding that the factual basis underlying any Application for Refund is incorrect.
(7) This is a final Order of the Department of Energy.
George B. Breznay
Director
Office of Hearings and Appeals
Date: June 10, 1997