B. Petition the Federal Government to release sufficient funds to the State to meet the needs identified by the authority; and

C. Contact the governors in the northeast region and the Maine Congressional Delegation to encourage a unified effort to petition the Federal Government to release sufficient funds to the meet the needs of consumers.

FISCAL NOTE

The State Planning Office within the Executive Department will incur some minor additional costs to submit annual reports pertaining to petroleum products to the Legislature. These costs can be absorbed within the office's existing budgeted resources.

The additional costs associated with estimating the funding needed to provide adequate fuel assistance to residents of Maine in the event of a sharp increase in heating oil prices and providing the required notifications can be absorbed by the Maine State Housing Authority utilizing existing budgeted resources.

SUMMARY

This bill, reported by the Joint Standing Committee on Utilities and Energy pursuant to joint order, does the following:

1. Requires the State Planning Office to report to the Joint Standing Committee on Utilities and Energy:

A. Annually on petroleum product inventories; and

B. On any significant heating oil supply inventory shortfalls that the office anticipates based on information available to it; and

2. Establishes a heating oil crises response mechanism under which, in the event of sharp increases in heating oil prices, the Maine State Housing Authority is required to estimate the funding needed to provide adequate fuel assistance to residents. The authority is required to provide this information to the Legislature and to the Governor. The Governor is directed to submit for legislative consideration emergency legislation to appropriate the needed funding and to work with the state