Did state do enough with gas-crisis plan?

Dry gas pumps, long lines, drivers topping off and squirreling away gas in a panic. Sound like an emergency?

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Phil Skinner/pskinner@ajc.com

Cars form a line at the Quiktrip station on Roswell road in Sandy Springs as QT employees restrict pump access for orderly dispensing of gasoline.

GAS SHORTAGE

• Gas prices across metro Atlanta continue to spike 
• Gas price dip lightens load on economy 
• Gas prices eke upwards 

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Maybe, maybe not.

Gov. Sonny Perdue has intervened to ease environmental regulations to boost supplies and prevent price gouging.

Gas lines? You’re on your own.

Under the Georgia Energy Emergency Plan, updated just last year, the governor has the power to enforce gas conservation much as he enforced water conservation last year. With supplies running low, Perdue could limit drivers to every-other-day gas purchases, set minimum and maximum limits to prevent topping off and hoarding, and add temporary car pool lanes on Ga. 400 and other roads.

The details are laid out in the state’s comprehensive guide “for state and local officials to work with energy providers in restoring the balance between the supply and demand of energy.”

Cobb County Chairman Sam Olens on Tuesday called the state’s response to the gas shortage “wholly inadequate.”

Rather than providing drivers with specific information and action plans, Olens said the message from Perdue and other state officials has been ” ‘Relax, everything’s going to be OK. Stop panicking.’

“We’re not children … Steps should have been taken at the beginning of last week.”

Olens, a Republican, said he’s in favor of government intervention to alleviate the shortage, including an odd-even fueling schedule based on license tags. On Sunday, he waited in line for 45 minutes to fill his wife’s empty gas tank.

“In looking at the [emergency] plan, there were options available, and for some strange reason, they were not done,” Olens said.

Perdue spokesman Bert Brantley said the crisis was not severe enough to warrant further government intervention. It’s unlike 2005, when gas supplies to metro Atlanta were cut off after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, he said. Perdue closed schools to save diesel fuel.

The updated emergency plan incorporated lessons learned from that time.

One of the plan’s developers, former director of the State Energy Office Elizabeth Sparrow Robertson, said an odd-even fueling schedule “might restore a little civility.”

Robertson, who retired in February and lives in Atlanta, said, “There’s always the risk or concern of government intervention where it’s not necessary, but if you look at it from the common- sense approach, it might help people to plan better.”

But it wouldn’t cure gas prices cresting toward $4.50 in metro Atlanta, even as prices nationwide are dropping, according to GasBuddy.com.

Perdue returns Friday from a weeklong trade mission in Spain. On Monday, he asked President Bush to release crude oil from the federal Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

Earlier in September, the governor asked for and received several waivers from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on clean-fuel regulations. He also declared a state of emergency — the first part of the emergency plan — which enabled anti-price gouging laws. On Tuesday, he eased licensing restrictions for haulers.

Jill Stuckey, director of the Energy Innovation Center for the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority, said state officials considered requiring customers to pay a minimum amount at the pumps but decided against it. Customers would have to pay inside, which would make lines even longer, Stuckey said.

State officials consulted the Georgia Association of Convenience Stores about the idea, said Jim Tudor, the association’s president. Tudor said minimum payments would be nearly impossible to enforce. He expressed similar concerns about limiting motorists to purchasing gas on only certain days of the week.

Chris Clark, executive director of GEFA, said state officials have been working off the emergency plan and maintained daily contact with suppliers and retailers.

Richard Cobb, executive director of the Georgia Petroleum Council, said he has not been consulted for his opinion on enacting parts of the emergency plan. But, he said, “I don’t think we need it. … More extreme measures at this point would give [drivers] greater cause for alarm.”

The council represents suppliers. Cobb predicted supplies will return to normal before demand does. But every day, he said, people will see more stations opened and shorter lines.

On Monday night, Alpharetta-based Colonial Pipeline announced it was pumping at pre-hurricane capacity. It takes about five days for the product to reach metro Atlanta.

Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin, whose office helps enforce anti-price-gouging laws and ensures the gas is not contaminated, said he’s done all he can do. It’s up to the governor to determine emergency actions, he said.

“I would support anything that would alleviate the problem that we’re in,” Irvin said.

Jeffrey Pillon, of the National Association of State Energy Officials, said conservation measures could be difficult to enforce. He participated in a conference call Tuesday morning with officials from several Southeastern states that have been grappling with gas shortages.

“You are damned if you do and you are damned if you don’t,” said Pillon, who is manager of energy, data and security for the Michigan Public Service Commission.

“There is certainly some efficacy to requiring minimum-purchase requirements if you have a situation where you are having a lot of people tank-topping,” Pillon said. “There are challenges in enforcement. It falls upon the retailers.”

Other surrounding states reacted similarly. Jeremy Heidt, spokesman for the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency, said Tennessee has mounted a public information campaign against panic buying but has not enacted any other measures from its “Petroleum Contingency Plan.”

That plan allows the state to set minimum purchase amounts, limit when motorists can buy gas, and even lower speed limits to conserve fuel.

“We didn’t get into any of these,” Heidt said. “They are actually designed for a much longer-term shortage.”