Julie Gill of the Oil Heat Institute warned that if more terminals were closed, fuels would have to be trucked in, adding to costs.

The Providence Journal / Bob Breidenbach

PROVIDENCE –– The big white tank farms that dot Providence’s western waterfront are vitally important to the state’s energy infrastructure, and any closure of these fuel storage facilities to make way for other types of development would probably push energy prices for Rhode Islanders even higher.

That was the message delivered yesterday by two energy companies and a coalition of heating oil dealers to the City of Providence, which is holding a conference this week to discuss the impact of plans to redevelop the city’s waterfront property.

The city’s planning department is holding a series of “waterfront charrettes” this week to engage the public in discussions about a city plan to designate a traditionally industrial area along with waterfront into mixed use area.

One of yesterday’s sessions focused on the energy resources along the waterfront. The meetings are being held at Johnson & Wales Harborside Campus in Providence.

While there are no plans to get rid of or move any of the fuel storage tanks that dominate a one-mile stretch of Allens Avenue, energy companies that own or rely on these facilities are concerned about how a change in zoning designations might create conflict.

For example, if the city allows residential structures to be built close to these industrial operations, the people who move there may grow to dislike the noise and the commercial operations so close to their homes, said Brud Waterman, operations manager for White Fuel Co., a heating oil dealer. Dealers worry, he said, that complaints by these new residents might lead to the closure of some of the nearby energy storage facilities.

“If any more terminals are closed, it would be a costly mistake that will take many years to fix,” said Julie Gill, executive director of the Oil Heat Institute of Rhode Island, a trade organization of about 60 heating oil dealers.

It would be costly, she said, because without these storage terminals fuels would have to be trucked in, adding to their cost.

The city has no plans to eliminate or move any of the tank farms along Allens Avenue, said Bonnie Nickerson, director of long-range planning for the City of Providence.

The city’s comprehensive plan calls for the area south of Thurbers Avenue, where Motiva is located, to be protected as industrial, she said.

But the area north of Thurbers, where Sprague Energy is located, might be able to accommodate other types of uses as well as industrial, she said. The area, she said, “could function as more of a transition zone.”

Other types of uses include commercial buildings, offices, recreation-oriented businesses such as marine excursions, residential space, retail shops and restaurants. The city is also considering how public access points could be incorporated in the area to link the neighborhoods with the waterfront, Nickerson said.

Representatives from Motiva and Sprague, the two energy companies that own the waterfront property where marine shipments of fuel are delivered and stored, gave overviews of their operations at the meeting.

Michael J. Sullivan, Motiva Petroleum Products terminal manager, said its Providence terminal occupies about 75 acres of land on the East and West sides of Allens Avenue.

The facility has 26 tanks that have a total capacity of 1.6 million barrels, or about 72 million gallons. The fuels now stored there are reformulated gasoline with 10 percent ethanol, home heating oil, ultra low sulfur diesel fuel, types 1 and 2, jet fuel and ethanol.

All of the fuels, except ethanol, are received by marine shipments. Ethanol arrives by rail car.

Motiva supplies about 50 percent of the gasoline sold in Rhode Island and the surrounding market, Sullivan said. It provides about two-thirds of the jet fuel needs of T.F. Green Airport. It also supplies a “large portion” of the heating oil in Rhode Island and the surrounding market, he said.

Shipments arrive through its two berths. The south berth can handle deep-water ships that require up to 40 feet of draft. The north berth can receive barges.

The facility handles more than 230 vessels a year, or about 60,000 truckloads of petroleum products, Sullivan said.

About 200 trucks are loaded with fuel at the facility each day, and deliver the products throughout Rhode Island, Cape Cod, Boston’s South Shore, Worcester, Mass., and Eastern Connecticut.

Sprague’s Providence terminal is located on 11 acres of dry land plus 2 acres of bulk storage space, said James Therriault, vice president for marketing and materials handling for Sprague. It has a storage capacity of 600,000 barrels or about 25.2 million gallons.

It is now used to store home heating oil, ultra low sulfur diesel fuel, residual fuel oil and roofing grade asphalt. Its bulk storage space contains a small mountain of road salt.

Sprague supplies about 100 heating oil dealers that have a combined annual volume of about 400,000 household fill-ups.

tbarmann@projo.com