Report: Area consumers could pay $5.8 billion a year more for gasoline, fuel
Study shows households, families and small businesses most at risk
March 9, 2022
Michiganders and other Midwesterners would be paying at least $5.8 billion more every year for gasoline and diesel if efforts to shut down a critical piece of Midwest energy infrastructure prove successful, according to a recent report.
Released March 3, the report from Weinstein, Clower and Associates makes clear that shutting down the essential Enbridge Line 5 would hurt households, families and small businesses in Michigan and the region. They would incur a severe uptick in prices resulting from an immediate decreased production at area refineries in Michigan and four other states, as well as two in Ontario.
Enbridge’s Line 5 transports light crude oil and natural gas liquids. In addition to supplying more than 50% of Michigan’s propane, and providing essential transportation fuels to the region, Line 5 transports product critical to manufacturing more than 6,000 products on which consumers depend. Line 5 is vital to the manufacture of medicine, antihistamines, clothing, footwear, eyewear, electronics, cleaners, and vehicles, to name a few.
The analysis also focused on the loss of jobs and economic activity in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, and Pennsylvania due to removing a vital energy resource on which many industries rely.
“At a time when consumer prices are rising at their fastest pace in more than 40 years and Americans are suffering from the highest gasoline prices in over seven years, choking the region’s fuel supply by closing Line 5 would be economically ruinous,” said Chris Ventura, Midwest Director of the Consumer Energy Alliance, which commissioned the analysis.
“Recklessly raising energy bills on families and businesses by disrupting their fuel supplies – notably oil and propane – while harming the economy and the environment is irresponsible, especially when solutions like the Line 5 Tunnel Project have been proposed.”
Keeping Line 5 operating while building the Tunnel is critical
“It’s clear that now and in the future, we need to keep Line 5 operating while we modernize this important energy infrastructure with the Great Lakes Tunnel project,” said Mike Moeller, Enbridge’s director of the Great Lakes Region.
A critical utility infrastructure modernization project, the Tunnel will encase in concrete a replacement section of Enbridge’s Line 5 deep below the lakebed in the Straits. It will remove the pipeline itself from the water, eliminate the chance of an anchor strike and virtually eliminate the chance of a release. The Tunnel also will accommodate other utilities, such as fiber optic cables for internet connectivity, while allowing enough space for Enbridge to maintain the Tunnel and Line 5.
“Today’s energy prices underscore why Line 5 is critically vital,” said Moeller. “As long as energy keeps flowing, we can make sure people get the energy they depend on. Long-term, moving the pipeline from the water and encasing it in a concrete tunnel below the lakebed will help protect not only the environment, but also the people who use the waters of the Great Lakes. This is a true win-win for consumers and the environment.”
Nearly 70% of Michiganders supports construction of the Great Lakes Tunnel Project, which will provide extra layers of safety and environmental protection while enabling the region to continue to receive from Line 5 a safe, reliable and affordable source of energy. To date, Enbridge has invested more than $100 million in preparing to construct the Great Lakes Tunnel Project.
Recently, the Mackinac Straits Corridor Authority determined that Enbridge met all requirements specified in the Tunnel Project Agreement between the State of Michigan and Enbridge. Enbridge is currently soliciting bids for building the Tunnel.
Once Enbridge receives all permits, it plans to start construction within the timeframe stated in the 2018 Tunnel Agreement with the State of Michigan.
