00                             HOUSE BILL NO. 25                                                                          
01 "An Act making sales of and offers to sell certain energy resources in this state by a                                  
02 refiner at prices that are exorbitant or excessive an unlawful act or practice under the                                
03 Alaska Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Act."                                                             
04 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                                
05    * Section 1. AS 45.50.471(b) is amended by adding a new paragraph to read:                                         
06                 (58)  violating AS 45.50.483 (sales of certain energy resources by                                      
07       refiners).                                                                                                        
08    * Sec. 2. AS 45.50 is amended by adding a new section to read:                                                     
09            Sec. 45.50.483. Sales of certain energy resources by Alaska refiners. (a) A                                
10       refiner may not sell or offer to sell an energy resource in this state at a price that is                         
11       exorbitant or excessive.                                                                                          
12            (b)  The provisions of this section apply only to sales in this state of                                     
13                 (1)  motor fuel used in an engine for the propulsion of a motor vehicle,                                
14       as that term is defined in AS 28.90.990, or an aircraft;                                                          

01                 (2)  fuel for space heating; and                                                                        
02                 (3)  diesel fuel.                                                                                       
03            (c)  In this section,                                                                                        
04                 (1)  a price is excessive or exorbitant if it is unreasonably high given                                
05       the reasonable costs incurred by the refiner in the state in connection with the refiner's                        
06       sale of the energy resource, taking into account the                                                              
07                      (A)  reasonable cost to refine the product;                                                        
08                      (B)  reasonable cost of transporting the product to the point of                                   
09            sale; and                                                                                                    
10                      (C)  reasonable transaction costs; and                                                             
11                 (2)  it is prima facie evidence that a price is exorbitant or excessive if                              
12       the price exceeds by more than 10 percent the average wholesale price of the                                      
13       comparable energy resource charged by refiners in the states of Idaho, Oregon, and                                
14       Washington.                                                                                                       
15            (d)  A refiner may rebut the presumption set out in (c)(2) of this section by                                
16       providing evidence that the amount charged by the refiner was attributable to                                     
17       additional reasonable costs incurred by the refiner in connection with the refiner's sale                         
18       of the energy resource in this state or that additional reasonable costs incurred by the                          
19       refiner were caused by a natural disaster. In this subsection, "natural disaster" has the                         
20       meaning given in AS 38.05.870.                                                                                    
21            (e)  If the attorney general believes that a refiner has engaged in or is engaging                           
22       in a violation of (a) of this section, the attorney general shall initiate an investigation                       
23       under AS 45.50.495.                                                                                               
24            (f)  Notwithstanding the penalties authorized by AS 45.50.551, the attorney                                  
25       general may recover, on behalf of the state, a civil penalty of not less than the greater                         
26       of                                                                                                                
27                 (1)  10 times the economic benefit obtained by the refiner through the                                  
28       refiner's conduct that violated or violates this section; or                                                      
29                 (2)  $50,000,000.                                                                                       
30            (g)  In this section, "refiner" means a company, corporation, or individual who                              
31       owns or controls, or controls through a substantially owned subsidiary, partnership, or                           

01       joint venture, a refinery used for the production of an energy resource described in (b)                          
02       of this section having total annual sales that exceed 1,000,000 gallons of all of those                           
03       energy resources.