Case No. RF272-95695
June 30, 1998
DECISION AND ORDER
OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Applications for Refund
Names of Petitioners: Augusta Petroleum Coop., Inc. et al.
Date of Filing: May 19, 1994
Case Numbers: RF272-95695 et al.
This Decision and Order will consider the Applications for Refund submitted by 36 claimants that purchased refined petroleum products during the period August 19, 1973, through January 27, 1981 (the crude oil price control period). The names of these claimants are set forth in the Appendix to this Decision and Order. Each applicant has requested a refund from crude oil monies available for disbursement by the Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) of the Department of Energy (DOE) pursuant to the OHA's authority under 10 C.F.R. Part 205, Subpart V.
This refund proceeding was instituted to allow purchasers of refined petroleum products during the price control period to apply to the OHA for a refund from crude oil overcharge funds collected by the DOE. Statement of Modified Restitutionary Policy in Crude Oil Cases, 51 Fed. Reg. 27899 (August 4, 1986). We have established refund procedures for these funds, which have been made available through consent orders entered into by the DOE and numerous firms that sold crude oil during the crude oil 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 set forth in these cases 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. However, as we discussed in City of Columbus, Georgia, 16 DOE ¶ 85,550 (1987), applicants who were end- users of petroleum products and whose businesses were not covered by the DOE's or its predecessors' price controls are presumed to have been injured.
Generally, a claimant is eligible for a refund equal to the number of gallons it purchased multiplied by $0.0016. We derived this volumetric refund amount by dividing the total crude oil refund monies currently available by the total U.S. consumption of petroleum products during the period of crude oil price controls (2,020,997,335,000 gallons).
We have carefully reviewed the information submitted by the applicants included in this Decision and Order and have found that the information provided by each sufficiently supports its request for a refund. These applicants have relied upon estimates or contemporaneous records to derive their gallonage claims. The OHA has examined each estimation technique used and finds both that the estimates derived are reasonable and that the volumes claimed appear to reflect accurately the applicants' purchases.
All of the applicants considered in this Decision and Order are agricultural cooperatives that bought petroleum products for resale to their members, who were end-users. We consider a claim by an agricultural cooperative that resold petroleum products to its members as a claim on behalf of the members. Farmers Union Oil Co., 17 DOE ¶ 85,464 (1988). Therefore, we afford such a cooperative the presumption of end-user injury on the condition that it certify that it will pass through the refund to its members. All of the cooperatives considered in this Decision and Order have provided this certification.
The purchase volumes and refunds approved for each applicant are set forth in the Appendix. In cases where a cooperative sold a portion of its purchases to non-members, we have subtracted that portion from its total purchase volume.
The refund amount granted to each applicant, which is calculated by multiplying the approved gallonage claim by the volumetric refund amount of $0.0016 per gallon, is set forth in the Appendix to this Decision and Order. The total volume approved in this Decision is 294,111,727 gallons of refined petroleum products, and the total of the refunds granted is $470,580. All of the applicants filed their Applications through Energy Refunds, Inc., a private filing service. In accordance with the applicants' requests, their refund checks will be sent to Energy Refunds, Inc.
The final deadline for the crude oil refund proceeding was June 30, 1995. It is the current policy of the DOE to pay crude oil refund claimants at the current 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 the claimants listed in the Appendix to this Decision and Order for all available crude oil overcharge funds are hereby approved as set forth in Paragraph (2) below.
(2) The Director of Special Accounts and Payroll, Office of Departmental Accounting and Financial Systems Development, Office of the Controller of the Department of Energy, shall take appropriate action to disburse a total of $470,580 from the DOE deposit fund escrow account denominated Crude Tracking - Claimants IV, Account Number 999DOE010Z, maintained at the Department of the Treasury to the applicants set forth in the Appendix to this Decision and Order. The refund checks for the applicants set forth in the Appendix shall be made payable to [Applicants Name] OR Energy Refunds, Inc., and shall be sent to the following address: 31 Small Lane, Hardin, KY 42048.
(3) Each applicant shall notify its membership of the receipt of the refund and shall pass through to its cooperative member customers all crude oil refunds received in Subpart V refund proceedings conducted by the Office of Hearings and Appeals.
(4) To facilitate the payment of future refunds, the applicants 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
(5) 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 basis underlying any refund application is incorrect.
(6) This is a final Order of the Department of Energy.
George B. Breznay
Director
Office of Hearings and Appeals
Date: June 30, 1998
Appendix
CASE NO. APPLICANT FIRM CONTACT VOLUME REFUND RF272-95695 AUGUSTA PETROLEUM COOP, INC. OR ENERGY REFUNDS, INC. C/O RONNY RHINEHART 18,420,676 $29,473 RF272-95696 ROCKINGHAM PETRO. COOPERATIVE OR ENERGY REFUNDS, INC. C/O IRVIN ARMENTROUT 20,482,110 $32,771 RF272-95697 CULPEPER PETROLEUM COOP, INC. OR ENERGY REFUNDS, INC. C/O KEVIN CORBIN 16,379,680 $26,207 RF272-95698 SS TIDEWATER PETROLEUM COOP. OR ENERGY REFUNDS, INC. C/O RICHARD RAY 13,499,825 $21,600 RF272-95699 WASHINGTON FARMERS COOPERATIVE OR ENERGY REFUNDS, INC. C/O EDDIE MCCONNELL 4,874,842 $7,800 RF272-95700 SS ROANOKE COOPERATIVE, INC. OR ENERGY REFUNDS, INC. C/O DONALD BLEVINS 5,470,438 $8,753 RF272-95701 SS OAK HILL COOPERATIVE, INC. OR ENERGY REFUNDS, INC. C/O KYLE WILSON 1,851,783 $2,963 RF272-95702 SS LOUDOUN CNTY COOPERATIVE OR ENERGY REFUNDS, INC. C/O JOHN GRAY 1,625,106 $2,600 RF272-95703 SS ROMNEY COOPERATIVE, INC. OR ENERGY REFUNDS, INC. C/O DEAN BEASLEY 6,191,372 $9,906 RF272-95704 SS MORGANTOWN COOPERATIVE, INC OR ENERGY REFUNDS, INC. C/O BRIAN S. EAGON 1,014,803 $1,624 RF272-95705 SS BUCKHANNON COOPERATIVE, INC OR ENERGY REFUNDS, INC. C/O WILLIAM KRAFT 7,937,894 $12,701 RF272-95706 SS PETERSBURG COOPERATIVE OR ENERGY REFUNDS, INC. C/O MEADE MCDONALD 4,909,180 $7,855 RF272-95707 SS MARION COOPERATIVE, INC. OR ENERGY REFUNDS, INC. C/O DAVID DOSS 3,578,976 $5,726 RF272-95708 SS BOWLING GREEN PETR. COOP. OR ENERGY REFUNDS, INC. C/O MIKE ROSS 14,076,765 $22,523 RF272-95709 SS FRANKFORT COOPERATIVE, INC. OR ENERGY REFUNDS, INC. C/O EDWARD COMBESS 1,434,014 $2,294 RF272-95710 SOUTHERN STATES BEDFORD COOP. OR ENERGY REFUNDS, INC. C/O SAUL G. WILLIAMS 3,915,666 $6,265 RF272-95711 SS SHELBYVILLE COOP., INC. OR ENERGY REFUNDS, INC. C/O BEN BAILEY 6,421,225 $10,274 RF272-95712 SS FRANKLIN PETROLEUM COOP. OR ENERGY REFUNDS, INC. SS SIMPSON COOP., INC. 15,140,437 $24,225 RF272-95713 SS OWENTON COOPERATIVE, INC. OR ENERGY REFUNDS, INC. C/O JOHN LAYTON 6,680,720 $10,689 RF272-95714 RUSSELL CNTY COOPERATIVE, INC. OR ENERGY REFUNDS, INC. C/O DANIEL WAYNE CAMPBELL 9,964,274 $15,943 RF272-95715 SS POINT PLEASANT COOPERATIVE OR ENERGY REFUNDS, INC. C/O STUART MORRISON 344,650 $551 RF272-95716 SS CYNTHIANA COOPERATIVE, INC. OR ENERGY REFUNDS, INC. C/O MITCH HARMOND 1,749,898 $2,800 RF272-95717 SS CLARK COOPERATIVE, INC. OR ENERGY REFUNDS, INC. C/O DON DENTON 4,051,229 $6,482 RF272-95718 SS WINCHESTER COOPERATIVE, INC OR ENERGY REFUNDS, INC. C/O JIM EBERT 17,301,098 $27,682 RF272-95721 SS FLEMINGSBURG COOPERATIVE OR ENERGY REFUNDS, INC. C/O RICK KIELMAN 3,378,235 $5,405 RF272-95722 SS HENDERSON COOPERATIVE, INC. OR ENERGY REFUNDS, INC. C/O MARK WHITE 8,257,851 $13,213 RF272-95723 SS CUMBERLAND MARYLAND COOP. OR ENERGY REFUNDS, INC. C/O EARL RICE 19,326,933 $30,923 RF272-95724 SS SALISBURY COOPERATIVE, INC. OR ENERGY REFUNDS, INC. C/O BRIAN JOCH 6,608,009 $10,573 RF272-95726 SS SMYRNA CLAYTON COOP., INC. OR ENERGY REFUNDS, INC. C/O PAUL WALKER 9,522,995 $15,237 RF272-95727 SS MILFORD COOPERATIVE, INC. OR ENERGY REFUNDS, INC. C/O GARY RHODES 3,522,200 $5,636 RF272-95728 SS ELKINS COOPERATIVE, INC. OR ENERGY REFUNDS, INC. C/O ROBERT SURFACE 2,580,887 $4,129 RF272-95729 SS OAKLAND COOPERATIVE, INC. OR ENERGY REFUNDS, INC. C/O REX HOALCRAFT 1,166,806 $1,867 RF272-95730 SS HOPKINSVILLE COOP., INC. OR ENERGY REFUNDS, INC. C/O JOHN CAMP 16,632,913 $26,613 RF272-95731 SS RUSSELLVILLE COOP., INC. OR ENERGY REFUNDS, INC. C/O RALPH WRIGHT 11,921,221 $19,074 RF272-95732 SS BOYLE COOPERATIVE, INC. OR ENERGY REFUNDS, INC. SOUTHERN STATES COOP. 11,232,441 $17,972 RF272-95733 SS GEORGETOWN COOP., INC. OR ENERGY REFUNDS, INC. C/O MIKE FARMER 12,644,575 $20,231 TOTALS: 36 294,111,727 $470,580
Last Updated on 6/3/98
By OHA