In the last year, Buckeye Partners, the Houston-based energy company with major Lehigh Valley operations, has thrust itself into the public spotlight. Vice President David Arnold talks about the company's growth.
Pipeline operator Buckeye Partners LP, which has significant operations in Lehigh County, said Friday that it is taking steps to move refined fuels in two directions on a portion of its Pennsylvania pipeline while it asks state regulators to allow it to reverse the flow from west to east.
Buckeye Partners said in a statement Friday that it wants to provide "bi-directional service" along the Altoona-to-Pittsburgh section of the 350-mile Laurel pipeline.
"We see the addition of eastbound service to the current westbound capability as providing an operational solution for all our customers," said Robert A. Malecky, Buckeye's president of domestic pipelines and terminals. He said taking this approach will give shippers and suppliers a choice of supply from either the west or east, while increasing Pennsylvania consumers' access to more affordable, lower cost North American-manufactured fuels.
"And we think it does so in a way that fully addresses the points raised in the recent PUC proceedings," Malecky said.
Buckeye's statement also said it would leave all of the Laurel Pipe Line's existing tariffs in place with the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission while establishing new tariffs through the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission from the Midwest into the state. FERC oversees interstate fuel distribution.
The Houston-based company, which declined Friday to provide any other specifics, first asked state regulators in November 2016 to approve its plan to stop the Laurel Pipe Line's westward flow at Altoona, arguing in part that the line was being underutilized.
In arguing against that move, Philadelphia-area refiners and in-state distributors have warned that reversing the flow will mean higher prices and less competition — benefiting Buckeye and out-of-state refiners, but hurting in-state consumers.
Deny Buckeye, a coalition of Pennsylvania job creators that provide fuel to consumers across the commonwealth, called Buckeye's latest plan for the pipeline "suspicious."
"After over a year of telling the PUC, legislators, media and the public that a reversal is best for Pennsylvania, Buckeye is now trying to take unilateral action that appears to be circumventing the PUC," the Deny Buckeye group says. The coalition members include convenience store operator Sheetz and Philadelphia Energy Solutions.
Last month, an administrative law judge recommended the five-member PUC reject Buckeye's application to reverse the flow. The commission hasn't said when it'll vote and, through spokesman Nils Hagen-Frederiksen, declined to comment.
Buckeye Partners operates a control center off Route 222 in Breinigsville, Upper Macungie Township, and a sprawling pipeline tank farm in Lower Macungie and Upper Milford townships. The company employs nearly 350 people locally.