Calif. Truckers Get Some Relief From Public Utilities Commission

t the request of the California Trucking Association and the pipeline industry, the California Public Utilities Commission agreed Jan. 26 to exempt petroleum pipelines from rolling electricty blackouts that have disrupted businesses for weeks.

The state would have been “cutting off its nose to spite its face” by allowing pipelines to shut down, said Warren Hoemann, spokesman for CTA. The pipelines supply fuel for backup generators that provide power during the blackouts. Also, he said, in a state where agriculture is the No. 1 industry, truckers need the diesel fuel that moves through the pipelines to haul produce to processing plants.

Regardless of availability, the price of all power sources — from electricity to fuel — is “going up,” Hoemann said. “The price of natural gas is skyrocketing and propane is going up, even though these are not produced by the power grid itself. But you have supply and demand considerations as people turn to other power sources as backup.”