Case No. RR340-00006

August 11, 1998

DECISION AND ORDER

OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Motion for Reconsideration

Name of Petitioner: Enron Corp./

Liquid Petroleum Corp.

Date of Filing: July 28, 1998

Case Number: RR340-00006

On July 10, 1998, the Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) issued a Decision and Order granting a refund of $38,413 to Liquid Petroleum Corporation (LPC) in the Enron Corporation (Enron) refund proceeding. On July 28, 1998, LPC filed a Motion for Reconsideration of the July 10 Order. The details of the original LPC refund claim and the overall Enron refund proceeding are set forth in Enron Corp./Liquid Petroleum Corp., Case No. RF340-9, July 10, 1998 (unpublished Decision and Order)(hereinafter LPC). See also Enron Corp., 21 DOE ¶ 85,323 (1991) (hereinafter Enron). For purposes of the instant Motion for Reconsideration, the relevant facts are as follows.

In its original refund application, LPC claimed that it purchased 6,920,970 gallons of butane from Enron, and asked that its refund be based on that purchase volume. However, in LPC we found that the firm had not substantiated this volume of purchases. Accordingly, we based LPC’s refund on 6,122,970 gallons of product, the volume of product that records provided to the OHA by Enron indicated that it sold to LPC. In calculating LPC’s refund, we also noted that in a letter of June 20, 1997, the firm had relinquished its claim that it was injured beyond the presumptive level enunciated for this refund proceeding. LPC asked that its refund be calculated by using the applicable presumption of injury set forth in Enron. Accordingly, we granted LPC a refund based on 60 percent of its full allocable share. LPC received a principal

refund of $22,079 (6,122,970 gallons X $.00601 X .6). (1) The firm also received interest on that amount of $16,334. (2)

In its Motion for Reconsideration, LPC seeks to reopen the injury showing issue. The firm asks that we now consider whether the firm is eligible for a full volumetric refund based upon a showing of injury, rather than limiting the firm’s refund to 60 percent of its allocable share. We will not grant this request. The Motion for Reconsideration is a vehicle that permits the OHA to correct errors in and make appropriate adjustments to prior Decisions and Orders. See Oceana County Road Commission, 20 DOE ¶ 85,081 (1990). It is not appropriate for an applicant to use the Motion for Reconsideration to reopen a question that has been previously closed at its own request. As stated above, LPC specifically indicated in June 1997 that it no longer wished to pursue an injury showing. Injury analysis is time-consuming and complicated. It would not be administratively efficient to allow a reopening of this aspect of the LPC application.

In its Motion for Reconsideration, the firm also provided information to corroborate its original claim that it purchased 6,920,970 gallons of butane from Enron. That information was in the form of Enron year-end sales records for the years 1978 and 1979, the two years in which LPC purchased butane from Enron. This data appears to be more complete than the information that we used in LPC. We find that this data reasonably establishes that LPC did purchase 6,920,970 gallons of butane from Enron. Accordingly, it is entitled to a further refund, based on an additional 798,000 gallons of butane (6,920,970 - 6,122,970 = 798,000). The amount of that additional refund is $2,878 (798,000 X $.00601 X .6 = $2,878). LPC will also receive interest of $2,129 on that amount ($2,878 X .7398 = $2,129). LPC’s total additional refund is therefore $5,007 ($2,878 + $2,129 = $5,007).

It Is Therefore Ordered That:

(1) The Motion for Reconsideration submitted by Liquid Petroleum Corporation (Case No. RR340-00006) is hereby granted as specified in Paragraph (2) below.

(2) The Director of Special Accounts and Payroll, Office of the Controller, of the Department of Energy shall take appropriate action to disburse a total of $5,007 ($2,878 principal and $2,129 interest) from the DOE deposit fund escrow account maintained at the Department of the Treasury and funded by Enron Corp., Consent Order No. 730V00221Z, to:

Liquid Petroleum Corp. OR Ruth Daman Trust

c/o Michael O'N. Barron

Attorney at Law

12417 Conway Road

St. Louis, Missouri 63141

(3) The determinations made in this Decision and Order are based on the presumed validity of the statements and documentary material submitted by the applicant. Any of those determinations may be revoked or modified at any time upon a determination that the factual bases underlying the Application for Refund are incorrect.

(4) This is a final Order of the Department of Energy.

George B. Breznay

Director

Office of Hearings and Appeals

Date: August 11, 1998

(1) Enron refunds are paid at the rate of $.00601 per gallon of covered Enron products purchased. We refer to the dollar amount derived by multiplying an applicant’s purchase volumes by the per gallon refund amount as the allocable share. Absent a showing of injury, an Enron applicant is entitled to receive its full allocable share up to $10,000. Enron applicants seeking greater refunds without demonstrating injury receive the larger of $10,000 or 60 percent of their allocable share up to $50,000. Enron, 21 DOE at 88,959. In this case, the 60 percent method produced the greater refund for LPC.

(2) Interest is being paid on Enron refunds at the rate of $.7398 per dollar of refund.