The D.C. Attorney General Robert J. Spagnoletti will investigate wholesale gas suppliers after his office found only one gas station violated D.C.’s consumer protection laws during Hurricane Katrina.
The District has some of the highest gas prices in the country, according to AAA Mid-Atlantic. Gas prices at D.C. stations are often 20 cents higher than just across the border in Maryland or Virginia. Unleaded regular gasoline prices here have dropped to about $2.89, but are still about 22 cents higher than last year.
“The problem does not appear to be the result of price-gouging at the retail level,” Spagnoletti said. “We will now focus on why wholesale prices in this area are as high as they are.”
Spagnoletti said his office is part of a multistate inquiry into whether businesses in the oil and gas industry are violating consumer protection or antitrust laws and contribute to higher gas prices. Gas pricing in the District is consistent with the national trend charted by the federal Energy Information Administration.
In its investigation into price-gouging at District gas stations during Hurricane Katrina, the attorney general’s office found only one station in violation of the District’s consumer protection law.
The investigation concluded that the BBP/Amoco station at 1800 18th St. NW imposed an “unconscionable” price hike over two days last year when motorists feared the damage the hurricane wrought on the oil industry in the Gulf Coast might impact fuel supply and cost. The station was charging $3.80 for regular and $4 for premium, about 40 cents per gallon more the rest of the region, according to the attorney general’s office.
The gas station’s owner agreed to pay the overcharge, about $900, to the District’s Consumer Protection Fund without any admission of liability.
The attorney general considers a substantial increase in a gas retailer’s price to be “unconscionable” if it is imposed during a period of consumer fear or confusion, and is not supported by prevailing retail prices, by an increase in the retailer’s wholesale cost, or by an actual supply shortage. Violators can face penalties of $1,000 per violation.
