Task force on refinery’s closing includes firms, utilities, union

Gov. Neil Abercrombie on Tuesday announced the membership of a task force to assess the impact of the impending closure of Tesoro’s Kapolei refinery on Hawaii’s fuel supply.

The panel also will consider a scenario under which both the Tesoro refinery and the state’s only other refinery, operated by Chevron, close. Abercrombie issued an executive order authorizing the task force’s creation.

A bill in the Legislature providing $145,000 to fund the task force was passed Tuesday by the House Finance Committee and sent to the Senate for consideration.

Tesoro announced last month that it would close the underperforming refinery in April and convert the facility to an import, storage and distribution terminal for refined petroleum products. Tesoro said as many as 200 refinery workers would be laid off, many of whom are represented by the United Steel Workers Local 591.

The 29-member task force will advise "the governor on issues relating to maintaining adequate and affordable fuel supplies to meet the state’s energy needs," according to the bill.

The task force will include a wide range of members representing local government agencies, utilities, petroleum companies, a labor union and nonprofits.

One of the task force participants will be the CEO of Hawaii Gas, which has advanced a plan to ship liquefied natural gas from the mainland to help bring down Hawaii’s high energy costs.

Officials from the United Steel Workers, which represents the majority of the unionized workers at Tesoro’s Kapolei refinery, said they were disappointed the union wasn’t asked to be on the task force.

"We believe it would be a huge mistake for your administration to exclude the United Steelworkers from this process," two of the union’s top officials wrote in a letter to Abercrombie. "It doesn’t make sense to exclude the USW on the governor’s committee when we represent the majority of workers who will be affected by the refinery closure," according to the letter signed by Gary Beevers, USW International vice president, and Robert LaVenture, director for the USW’s western region.

The one labor union asked to join the task force was the Plumbers & Fitters UA Local Union 675.

The executive order calls for the task force to present short-term findings and recommendations to Abercrombie within 60 days of the refinery closure. The task force also is required to submit an interim report by Sept. 30 and a final report by the end of the 2014 legislative session.