Case No. RG272-00190
August 13, 1997
DECISION AND ORDER
OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Application for Refund
Names of Petitioners: Vermilion Service Company
Danco Prairie FS Cooperative
Dates of Filing:May 2, 1995
May 4, 1995
Case Numbers: RG272-190
RG272-196
This Decision and Order will consider the Applications for Refund filed by Vermilion Service Company and Danco Prairie FS Cooperative, two purchasers of refined petroleum products during the crude oil price control period, August 19, 1973 through January 27, 1981. The applicants request refunds from the crude oil monies currently available for disbursement by the Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) pursuant to the OHA's authority under 10 C.F.R. Part 205, Subpart V.
Pursuant to current Department of Energy (DOE) policy, purchasers of refined petroleum products may 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 court approved settlements, remedial orders and consent orders entered into by the DOE and numerous firms that sold crude oil during the period of price controls. See, e.g., New York Petroleum, Inc., 18 DOE ¶ 85,435 (1988); Ernest A. Allerkamp, 17 DOE ¶ 85,079 (1988); A. Tarricone, Inc., 15 DOE ¶ 85,495 (1987). The refund procedures set forth in these cases specify that in order to receive a refund, an applicant generally must: (i) document its purchase volumes during the period of price controls; and (ii) show that it was injured by alleged crude oil overcharges.
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 (1987). 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. The cooperatives considered in this Decision and Order have provided this certification.
Meritorious claimants are eligible to receive refunds equal to the number of gallons of petroleum products they purchased during the period of price controls multiplied by a per-gallon or volumetric refund amount. The volumetric refund amount is $0.0016 per gallon. We derived this refund amount by dividing the total crude oil refund monies available by the total consumption of petroleum products in the United States during the period of price controls (2,020,997,335,000 gallons).
We have determined that the applicants are eligible to receive their full allocable share of the available crude oil monies. The refund amounts equal the approved gallons of petroleum products which the firm purchased during the period of crude oil price controls, multiplied by the volumetric amount, $0.0016 per gallon. For Vermilion Service Company, Case No. RG272-190, the refund amount is $69,366, based upon purchases of 43,353,920 gallons.(1) The refund amount for Danco Prairie FS Cooperative, Case No. RG272- 196, is $87,492, based upon purchases of 54,682,775 gallons.
It Is Therefore Ordered That:
(1) The Applications for Refund filed by the Vermilion Service Company, Case No. RG272-190, and Danco Prairie FS Cooperative, Case No. RG272-196, for all available crude oil overcharge funds are hereby approved as set forth in Paragraphs (2) and (3) 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 from the escrow fund denominated Crude Tracking-Claimants 4, Account No. 999DOE010Z, maintained at the Department of Treasury, the sum of $69,366 to Vermilion Service Company at the following address:
Bill Wason
General Manager
Vermilion Service Company
Rt. 150 & Henning Road
Danville, IL 61832
(3) 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 from the escrow fund denominated Crude Tracking-Claimants 4, Account No. 999DOE010Z, maintained at the Department of Treasury, the sum of $87,492 to the Danco Prairie FS Cooperative at the following address:
Ernie Kitchen
Controller
Danco Prairie FS Cooperative
5371 Farmco Drive
Madison, WI 53718
(4) The applicants shall pass through any refunds they receive to their members on a dollar for dollar basis.
(5) To facilitate the payment of future refunds and interest, an applicant 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
Washington, DC 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 13, 1997
(1) Vermillion Service Company submitted a refund claim for purchases of 43,346,527 gallons of petroleum products, which did not include purchases of 52,819 pounds of lubricating grease. Using a conversion factor of 0.13996 gallons per pound of lubricating grease, we added 7,393 gallons to the applicants gallonage claim to arrive at the total of 43,353,920 gallons.