New York state to set up upstate fuel reserve in November

Reuters

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A strategic fuel reserve at six locations in upstate New York is expected to be operational in November to ensure gasoline and diesel fuel are available to emergency responders in the event of an emergency such as 2012's Hurricane Sandy. Approximately 2.5 million gallons (9.5 million liters) of gasoline and ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) will be kept in the reserve in terminals in Rensselaer, Brewerton, Rochester, Marcy, Vestal and Buffalo, Governor Andrew Cuomo's office said on Wednesday in a release. Sandy battered the Northeastern coast at the end of October 2012, destroying homes and buildings, closing refineries and leaving motorists without fuel and exposing vulnerabilities in the fuel distribution network. The reserve will be administered by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) using $10 million in funding provided by the New York Power Authority. The fuel will be owned by New York State, and the reserves managed by Buckeye Terminals, LLC. Buckeye is purchasing the fuel on behalf of the state, in addition to shipping it, delivering it and storing it at its terminals, a NYSERDA spokesperson said in an email. The full 2.5 million gallons will be available when the reserve is operational. "We do not anticipate a price hike," the spokesperson said in the email. "When the state purchased the three million gallons of fuel for the downstate Strategic Fuel Reserve, there was no noticeable spike in prices." (Reporting by Robert Gibbons; Editing by Marguerita Choy and Alan Crosby)