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Georgia Looks at 7 Columbus Gas Stations for Possible Price Gouging

Posted on: Thursday, 15 September 2005, 18:00 CDT

Sep. 15--The state is looking into seven Columbus gas stations for possible price gouging after Georgia Department of Revenue agents visited Tuesday.

Department of Revenue spokesman Charles Willey said an agent drove through Columbus and gathered information on 47 stations. The seven, which he did not name, were ones whose prices were above the threshold for prices after the Sept. 1 tax moratorium.

Whether they are involved in price gouging has not been determined. He said agents will look over past records for the stations and determine whether the gas stations were raising prices for profit.

"If we think it merits further investigation, we turn it over to the Governor's Office of Consumer Affairs," Willey said. "The main purpose of what we're doing... is so the public knows someone is checking."

The agents were sent across the state to police the pumps for potential gougers Tuesday, 11 days after Gov. Sonny Perdue ordered a rollback of state gas taxes until Oct. 1 to cut prices that soared above $3 or $4 per gallon on the heels of Hurricane Katrina.

Willey said agents checked nearly 400 gas stations Tuesday statewide, either by driving by and recording prices or by stopping and talking with management if prices seem out of whack compared to others. He said 25 statewide had prices above $2.90.

Bill Cloud, spokesman for the Georgia Governor's Office of Consumer Affairs, said gas prices vary throughout the state, but that most gas stations have brought down prices without problems.

"Things seem to have settled down very nicely," he said. "I guess the marketplace has taken care of itself after a little government nudging."

Price gouging, Cloud said, is defined as raising prices without justification. For example, he said, one gas station may have ordered gas after oil prices rose and sold it for $3.02 a gallon, but a competitor across the street might have bought gas before oil prices rose and priced it at $2.92 a gallon. The higher price isn't necessarily price gouging, he said.

According to AAA Auto Club, the average price of regular unleaded gas in Georgia was $2.83 per gallon Tuesday, down from $2.89 a week ago. Only four states -- Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Alaska -- had lower averages.

On Aug. 30 in Columbus, the price of regular unleaded gas at five stations ranged from $2.619 a gallon to $2.719 per gallon. On Wednesday, the price at the same stations ranged from $2.759 to $2.799 per gallon.

Retailers who pocket the tax break -- an estimated 15 cents per gallon -- rather than pass it on to consumers could face fines of $2,000 to $25,000 per incident.

Russ Willard, a spokesman for the Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker, said agents are still investigating possible price gouging and he didn't know how many offenders the state may prosecute.

"At this point, it's too early to tell," he said.

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Copyright (c) 2005, Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, Ga.

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Source: Columbus Ledger-Enquirer

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