Published: September 24, 2008 12:33 am      

People deserve to get reasonable answers about gasoline prices

When Hurricane Ike was playing havoc with the Gulf Coast refineries recently, and a number of them were shut down in preparation for the storm, gasoline prices in Marion County quickly spiked to above $4 a gallon.

Marion County prices had been around the $3.69 figure and were apparently headed downward on a spiral that had seen them headed south after going upward in the weeks prior to that. But the strange thing was that gas prices didn’t climb in Morgantown for about five days — remaining in the $3.69 range while the figure $4.05, and higher, was showing at stations here. When they did climb in Morgantown, they jumped to only $3.79.

Our prices dropped back to $3.89 (and later to $3.79), which prompted Don Summers to write the following letter:

“Can anyone explain why gas prices in Fairmont are consistently significantly higher than they are in Morgantown or Bridgeport/Clarksburg? Today (Saturday) for example, the lowest price for regular in Fairmont is $3.87, and in Morgantown and Bridgeport it is $3.69. I live in Fairmont, but work in Clarksburg, and this has been a trend for quite a while. An 18-cent per gallon difference doesn’t make it worth a special trip just to buy gas, but it certainly does mean I buy gas before heading back to Marion County. Is there a reason for this?”

We wish we knew.

It was comforting in a way to learn that Attorney General Darrell McGraw’s office is investigating complaints that some retailers may be violating West Virginia’s gas-gouging law. The office said Monday that it has received more than 200 telephone calls from residents across the state complaining that gas-price increases were unreasonable. The office says McGraw issued investigative subpoenas to retailers seeking invoices and information to determine whether such price hikes were illegal.

The same investigations occurred in several other states. The South Carolina attorney general said gas stations that price gouge would face criminal prosecution. He said each case would be investigated separately to see whether prices were raised to an “unconscionable” level. Governors in North Carolina, Kentucky and Arkansas signed orders or made declarations allowing their attorneys general to enforce anti-gouging laws. Officials in Mississippi said they would require merchants to justify questionable increases.

But is that all it’s going to be? McGraw is investigating the possibility of gas gouging. Do we ever see anything else about it? Or is this just one of those announcements that goes out from the attorney general’s office informing the public that the problem is being checked out? And nothing is ever heard about this again.

The people of West Virginia deserve answers. Certainly, the people of Marion County do. Paying 20 cents or more a gallon than people in surrounding counties gets old — and expensive.