Propane pipeline issue leads Wisconsin to implement driver exemptions
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker declared that intermittent operations at one of Mid America East Blue Pipeline’s propane terminals have put the state in an energy emergency.
The Mid America East Blue Pipeline serving four states, including terminals in Janesville, Wis.; Dubuque, Iowa; and Rockford, Ill., had been below capacity and experiencing intermittent service interruptions. While deliveries resumed to most pipeline terminals on Jan. 8, Walker said propane deliveries remained intermittent at the Janesville terminal. The pipeline is crucial to supplying propane in southern Wisconsin, he added.
Walker said the state of emergency would last from Jan. 9 to Jan. 26. He said the Janesville terminal is not expected to resume full inventory for days, explaining the inventory backup has made it difficult for propane transporters to meet demand and comply with state and federal hours-of-service requirements.
Walker issued an executive order, giving commercial truck drivers who deliver fuel exemptions from the hours-of-service regulations because of the state’s energy emergency.