Case No. RG272-00106
August 7, 2001
DECISION AND ORDER
OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Application for Refund
Names of Petitioners: Finley Farmers Grain & Elevator, et al.
Dates of Filings: April 14, 1995, et al.
Case Numbers: RG272-00106 et al.
This Decision and Order will consider Applications for Refund filed by ten claimants that purchased refined petroleum products during the period August 19, 1973 through January 27, 1981. Each applicant listed in the Appendix attached to this Decision and Order has requested a refund from crude oil monies available for disbursement by the Office of Hearings and Appeals of the Department of Energy pursuant to the Statement of Modified Restitutionary Policy In Crude Oil Cases, 51 Fed Reg. 27899 (August 4, 1986).
In order to receive a refund for crude oil overcharges, an applicant generally must (1) document its purchase volumes and (2) show that it was injured by the overcharges. Applicants that were end- users of petroleum products and whose business was unrelated to the petroleum industry, however, are presumed to have been injured. City of Columbus, Georgia, 16 DOE¶85,550 (1981). Some 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). (1) 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.
The amount of an applicants refund is equal to $0.0016 per gallon multiplied by the volume of its purchases. Each of the applicants listed in the Appendix has documented its purchase volumes. The purchase volumes and refunds approved for each applicant are set forth in the Appendix. The total volume for which refunds are approved in this Decision is 71,375,635 gallons and the sum of the refunds granted is $114,201.
All of the applicants listed in the Appendix filed their applications through a private filing service, Energy Refunds, Inc. In accordance with these applicants' requests, their refund checks will be sent to their private filing services.
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 the refund amounts set forth in the Appendix to
this Decision and Order from the DOE deposit fund escrow account maintained at the
Department of Treasury denominated Crude Tracking-Claimants IV, Account No.
999DOE010Z, to the applicants listed in the Appendix.
(3) The cooperative applicants shall pass through any refunds they receive to their members on a dollar for dollar basis.
(4) All of the applicants in the Decision applied through Energy Refunds, Inc. In accordance
with their requests, their refund checks should be sent to "Energy Refunds, Inc., Highway 80 East, 31 Small Lane, Hardin, KY 42048.
(5) 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 in its 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 material submitted by the applicants. This Decision and Order may be revoked or modified at any time upon a determination that the basis underlying a refund application is incorrect.
(7) This is a final Order of the Department of Energy.
George B. Breznay
Director
Office of Hearings and Appeals
Date: August 7, 2001
(1)All of the cooperatives considered in this Decision and Order have provided this certification.
Appendix
CASE NO. APPLICANT FIRM CONTACT VOLUME REFUND RG272-00106 FINLEY FARMERS GRAIN & ELEVTR. OR ENERGY REFUNDS, INC. C/O STEVE NESET 1,486,320 $2,378 RG272-00107 DUMAS COOP OR ENERGY REFUNDS, INC. C/O GENE LEGG 2,612,429 $4,180 RG272-00108 COOP GAS & OIL OR ENERGY REFUNDS, INC. C/O STEVE SHANNON 18,833,738 $30,134 RG272-00109 FARMERS UNION COOP - HUMPHREYS OR ENERGY REFUNDS, INC. C/O JOHN BAILEY 28,430 $45 RG272-00110 WAUKOMIS COOP SUPPLY CO. OR ENERGY REFUNDS, INC. C/O TERREL ATEN 689,948 $1,104 RG272-00112 BEAR RIVER VALLEY COOP OR ENERGY REFUNDS, INC. C/O JOSEPH CLARK 3,225,721 $5,161 RG272-00113 MARTINSBURG FARMERS ELEVATOR OR ENERGY REFUNDS, INC. C/O JOE PASCHANG 4,451,618 $7,123 RG272-00114 AG VANTAGE FS, INC. OR ENERGY REFUNDS, INC. C/O WADE MITTELSTADT 27,987,307 $44,780 RG272-00152 PRO-AG OR ENERGY REFUNDS, INC. C/O BILL ELLIS 3,993,864 $6,390 RG272-00153 TAPPEN OIL CO. OR ENERGY REFUNDS, INC. C/O KAREN DOCKTER 8,066,260 $12,906 TOTALS: 10 71,375,635 $114,201