Feingold, Kohl, Ryan, Green Provision to Broaden Reformulated Gas Supply for Wisconsin Included in Final Energy Bill

Members of Congress Worked Together To Include Measure in Senate Energy Bill To Help Combat Gas Price Spikes

Washington D.C. -- U.S. Senators Russ Feingold and Herb Kohl and U.S. Representatives Paul Ryan and Mark Green today hailed the inclusion of their provision to broaden reformulated gas (RFG) supplies for Wisconsin in the Senate energy bill. The energy bill passed the Senate by a vote of 88 to 11.

The measure the Wisconsin legislators included in the Senate energy bill aims to reduce the number of different federal reformulated fuel blends, broaden the supply from which Wisconsin could draw RFG in the event of a shortage, and as a result help to prevent the gasoline price spikes that have plagued Wisconsin drivers in recent years. This provision in the Senate energy bill is similar to legislation introduced in the House by Reps. Ryan and Green in December 2001 to rein in the proliferation of specialized boutique fuels and combat wild gas price fluctuations.

"Easing the burden of gas prices on the working people of Wisconsin has been one of my priorities during this debate on the energy bill," Feingold said. "It was because our delegation was able to work together as a team that we were able to preserve the fuels title and reduce the number of boutique fuels. Now, we must continue working together to ensure these provisions are part of the final bill."

"Reducing the number of boutique fuels in our region will help keep supply in line with demand, and prevent future disruptions in our local gas supply - due to routine maintenance or unexpected mechanical failures - from causing a steep price spike. This sensible policy should keep Wisconsin consumers from bearing the cost of tight regional gas supplies," Kohl said.

"Affordable gas and clean air can go together," Ryan said. "Today’s Senate passage of the energy bill containing our RFG provision is a key step toward achieving these goals. By moving to standardize federal RFG so that more regions use our blend of gas, we’ll be able to tackle supply problems, such as refinery breakdowns, better. And this will help us avoid regulation-driven shortages and price spikes. Wisconsin drivers deserve this overdue relief."

"These issues get pretty technical, but the bottom line is this - current fuel regulations cause supply problems, supply problems cause price jumps, and price jumps cause lighter wallets and angry drivers in Wisconsin and across the country," Green said. "Today's action is a step toward remedying that situation and beginning to relieve the gas price burden that's been heaped on consumers at the pump in recent summers."

The measure the Wisconsin legislators worked to include in the energy bill would improve fungibility of RFG nationwide, by standardizing volatile organic compound (VOC) reduction requirements. In practice, when combined with the energy bill’s renewable fuels mandate, this would enable the part of Wisconsin that uses federal RFG to draw on supplies of federal RFG from other areas, such as St. Louis and Detroit, if necessary. The ability to rely on other sources of RFG is especially important when sudden supply shortages arise due to unexpected events such as refinery fires or breakdowns.

At present, Southeastern Wisconsin cannot draw on RFG from other areas because the Chicago/Wisconsin RFG formula is not used elsewhere in the country. The fuels language in the energy bill would help address this boutique fuel problem by bringing other areas that use federal RFG in line with Wisconsin's blend by standardizing VOC reduction requirements and requirements for the production of renewable fuels such as ethanol. The Chicago/Wisconsin area is the only part of the country that already uses ethanol in its blend of RFG.

As the use of Wisconsin's type of RFG becomes more widespread, supply problems will become easier to address. This benefits Wisconsin drivers, because easing supply shortages will help put an end to severe price spikes.