ALBANY, N.Y. -- Hess Corp. is "aggressively" fighting Governor Andrew Cuomo's plan to keep pumps flowing at gas stations in the state of New York after natural disasters strike, reported The New York Daily News.
As Cuomo and legislative leaders were working to finalize state budget proposals on Friday, the New York City-based oil company ramped up its lobbying push to kill the measure.
Cuomo has proposed new legislation to protect New York residents from gasoline shortages during natural disasters. This legislation would create the strongest backup power law in the nation for critical stations, he said, preventing long lines and station closures in the event of power outages. The proposal provides grants of up to $10,000 per station to help owners install a transfer switch and purchase a backup generator. The resources will come primarily from federal mitigation funds.
A state official said Hess' motivation is that its stations were among a small minority that had generators and stayed open during the crippling gasoline crisis in the days after Hurricane Sandy hit last October.
Hess did not respond to the paper's request for comment.
A source close to state fuel retailers denied Hess was looking for a monopoly. "Hess is opposed to it because it would be so costly," the source said.
Click here to read the full Daily News report.
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