He warned that structural damage is not the only concern; refineries depend on electrical power that may have been affected by the storm.

Question for insiders... I'm an ex-chem eng that worked in the ag fuels business in the Midwest - largest processor of sweetners & ethanol. We ran our own co-gen plant to be less dependent on the utilities for energy... plus we sold back into the grid.

Are any of these refineries running co-gen? If not why not? It seems they would be able to get up and running a whole lot earlier if they controlled their own power... Plus it seems logical because if they set it up right they could process coal into electrical power then transition into syn-gas/syn-fuels as well... same feedstock.

Any thoughts?

hmmm...good question.  I remember, somewhere over the last few days, reading that one (or perhaps two) had their own power supply that would allow them, if not damaged, to get back online quickly...but I don't remember where.  I'll do some digging.  Either way, that can't happen until the flooding recedes, I would think...which might be at least a week.