http://dailynews.yahoo.com/htx/nm/20010614/ts/utilities_california_refineries_dc_1.html

Thursday June 14 12:04 PM ET

One-Fourth of Calif. Refineries at Blackout Risk

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Energy Information Administration warned on Thursday that refineries in California accounting for nearly one-fourth of the state's gasoline production are at risk of shutting down for up to two weeks if they lose power from rolling blackouts.

The EIA said in a report that the refineries are at risk because they have no back-up generators to produce electricity, and it would take 7 to 14 days to return most of the refineries' operating units to full production.

The refineries in question account for 543,000 barrels per day of the state's total refining capacity, and are located mainly in southern California. The 7- to 14-day estimate assumes that no equipment was damaged during an emergency shutdown, the EIA said in a report released at a congressional hearing.

``If rotating outages are expected to be frequent, then it is conceivable that these refineries would remain down for extended periods of time rather than undergo the high costs of repeated emergency shutdowns and restarts,'' the EIA said in its report on electricity shortages in California. California refineries have asked for an exemption from any state order for rolling blackouts.

-- Swissrose (cellier3@mindspring.com), June 14, 2001