US DOE meeting to discuss post-storm energy industry recovery

Washington (Platts)--29Dec2005

The US Dept of Energy is organizing a meeting in Mississippi of federal,
state and local government officials as well as electric and natural gas and
oil industry representatives to review efforts to restore energy services
along the Gulf Coast disrupted by hurricanes Katrina and Rita in August and
September.

     Kevin Kolevar, director of DOE's Office of Electricity and Energy
Reliability, said Thursday the Jan 19-20 meeting in Tunica is expected to
attract about 200 people directly involved in bringing back on-line
electricity, natural gas, oil refining and other energy services after the
hurricanes struck Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.

     While preliminary plans call for Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman and
Mississippi Gov Haley Barbour to speak at the meeting, the event is intended
primarily for individuals with a direct hand in the recovery efforts, Kolevar
said. 

     "We're looking for not just senior leaders and policymakers but also
people who were on the ground looking to resolve problems," he said.
Kolevar said the purpose of the meeting is to identify actions that worked
well and could serve as models for future recovery efforts, starting with the
2006 hurricane season, as well as those that failed and should be forgotten. 

     "I think the federal response was respectable, but it could have been
better," he said. "That's obvious to everyone involved. That's not just a
burden to be laid at the feet of the federal government, but a shared
responsibility that we need to work on with state and local officials and the
private sector to show what we can do and do well, and where we are not
equipped to respond. We need to make sure everyone understands what others can
do."

     Kolevar said DOE is already better prepared to respond to a similar
natural disaster, based on its experience along the Gulf Coast since August.
His office deployed about 25 engineers, analysts and other personnel to the
three states, as well as an undetermined number of staffers from the
Bonneville Power Administration and other programs at the department. The last
of them returned to Washington this week.

     The DOE personnel helped local governments and utilities find fuel,
shelter, equipment and other resources necessary for restoring energy
services, he said. They also coordinated federal responses to situations
involving a number of agencies. 

     Bodman twice issued emergency orders under the Federal Power Act
directing local utilities in Texas to help restore power outside of their
service areas, including one that Kolevar said helped bring back on-line
refineries in the Houston area. In another instance, he said, the mere
suggestion that the secretary might use that authority prompted utilities in
Mississippi to expedite re-establishment of electricity to pumping stations
for pipelines that ship refined petroleum products to the East Coast and
Midwest.

                   ---Bill Loveless, bill_loveless@platts.com

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