(WWJ) — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has announced a plan that she says will keep Michigan gas prices from skyrocketing in the wake of a recent outage at an oil refinery in Illinois.
Whitmer’s office announced Thursday the Environmental Protection Agency has granted a temporary waiver to increase fuel production in Michigan and three other Great Lakes states — Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin. The waiver will continue until Aug. 20.
Whitmer sent a proactive letter to the EPA requesting an emergency fuel waiver that will “increase the supply of fuel and help mitigate price fluctuations amidst the refinery outage, the ongoing hurricane season, and as Michiganders continue to enjoy summer travel plans,” her office said.
This comes after the ExxonMobile Joliet Refinery in Illinois unexpectedly shut down due to a power outage when tornadoes touched down in mid-July. Officials say the outage is expected to last well into August.
Given the unexpected shutdown and the potential for future severe weather events, the EPA “determined that the current extreme and unusual fuel supply circumstances warrant a temporary waiver to help ensure that an adequate supply of gasoline is available” until normal supply to the region can be restored.
Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis at Gas Buddy, told WWJ’s Ryan Wrecker the move “should expand the amount of gasoline available for the region.”
“In this region, there are three different types of summer gasoline. This waiver simplifies the situation and basically says to refineries, any gallon of gasoline that you can produce, the least stringent standard can now be sold at the retail level and that very much enhances the amount of gasoline and where the gasoline can come from,” DeHaan said.
He expects that gas from as far away as the Gulf states — like Texas and Louisiana — may be heading to Michigan as a result of the waiver.
DeHaan said conventional gasoline prices jumped by 25-30 cents per gallon on Wednesday, based on the refinery issues, and said prices could even again approach $3.99 a gallon, where they were in the immediate aftermath of the Joliet outage, but the waivers should be helpful in preventing prices from soaring.
“There still could be a jump at the pump. The waivers, though, will likely prevent more meaningful increases from happening after stations raise prices, which is very likely. This situation’s not over; there still could be a jump in retail prices. But beyond that, this waiver is going to likely limit the amount of increase that has to happen as a result of these refinery outages,” DeHaan said.
DeHaan said there have been no signs as to when the Illinois refinery is expected to be back online.
On top of the outage in Illinois, officials say the 2024 hurricane season is anticipated to be severe, “potentially putting additional fuel transport from the Gulf region at risk.”
The temporary waiver “will help us keep fuel prices stable, ensuring Michiganders can fuel their cars or heat their homes and businesses at a predictable rate,” Whitmer said.
The Whitmer administration says it is “committed to working with the EPA and the Department of Energy (DOE) to continue actively monitoring the fuel supply situation and considering additional measures to alleviate the impact.”
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