DETROIT — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Saturday issued an executive order lifting some rules on fuel supply transportation and moving forward the timeline for the state to access its fall gasoline supply in light of a fire at an Indiana refinery that may affect Michigan's supply and prices.
The governor's executive order lifts caps and limits on hours motor carriers and drivers can drive if they are carrying gas and diesel. The order also suspends some rules that will allow the state to begin the transition to the fall fuel supply, but that order is contingent on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency making similar allowances.
BP's Whiting, Indiana, refinery experienced an electrical fire Wednesday that affected utilities serving the refinery, according to the company. The fire led to the shut down of most of the refinery's production Thursday, according to Reuters.
“The impacts of the outage at the Whiting facility will be widespread across our region, and I am taking proactive steps to help Michiganders get the fuel they need to drive their cars and help businesses keep their products moving," Whitmer said in a statement.
"With today’s action, I am freeing up more gas supply and removing any impediments to gas delivery to cut down wait times at stations. I will keep working to get Michiganders the affordable gas they need without delay.”
The Michigan Public Service Commission is monitoring the situation in Indiana, said the commission's chairman Dan Scripps.
“The commission will continue to use every tool at our disposal to insulate Michiganders from price spikes and preserve access to motor fuels for Michigan drivers and businesses for end of summer and Labor Day travels," Scripps said.
BP spokeswoman Christina Audisho said no one was injured in the fire. The company is working with local and state agencies to "monitor the impact" and is still assessing when the affected units can restart, Audisho said.
The refinery provides about 20% to 25% of the gasoline, jet fuel and diesel used by Midwest states such as Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana and Illinois, according to Whitmer's office. The fire caused the U.S. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration on Wednesday to declare a regional emergency in those states that also lifted driver limits.
Whitmer's order remain in effect until Sept. 15 or through the "duration of of the supply challenges."
Most states use gasoline with a lower vapor pressure in the summer and switch to a higher pressure in the winter. That switch is scheduled to occur in mid-September so Whitmer's order would move that timeline up a few weeks, said Mark Griffin, president of the Michigan Petroleum Association.
Some of the actions taken in the order were requested by BP and the industry as a fail-safe while BP works to bring production back up to speed, Griffin said. He characterized the actions as being taken "out of an abundance of caution."
"The idea is to try to make sure that we don’t get between a rock and a hard place," Griffin said. "The effort here is saying, 'Let’s take action now before a problem happens.' It was an opportunity where business and government could work together.”
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