TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist said yesterday that his office has issued subpoenas to two companies to determine why gasoline prices charged to gas stations increased as much as 30 cents per gallon as Hurricane Dennis approached the Florida coastline. Tate Oil Co. Inc., a distributor, and Shell's Motiva Enterprises LLC subsidiary, one of its suppliers, were served subpoenas Monday afternoon.
Based on a staggering number of price gouging complaints logged in conjunction with Hurricane Dennis, the AG's Office has launched a [image-nocss] widespread investigation into allegations that fuel prices across the state may have been raised improperly.
Crist said that his preliminary investigation has found that the number of Shell retailers involved in complaints was more than double any other retail brand. The early stages of the investigation have revealed that individual station owners may have been instructed to raise prices by suppliers or corporate officials, he added.
Initial questioning by investigators showed that many of the stations targeted by price gouging complaints are Shell stations that receive their gasoline from Tate Oil. A portion of Tate Oil's supply is purchased from Motiva. Tate Oil, which is owned by Phillips Oil Inc., Crestview, Fla., also owns some stations throughout the state. The subpoenas request information from both companies, including their prices for the previous 30 days, lists of stations they supply and the amount their prices increased after Governor Jeb Bush declared a state of emergency on Thursday.
Responses to the subpoenas are due by July 25.
The AG's No-Scam Hotline logged more than 1,600 calls after Governor Bush declared Florida to be under a state of emergency on Thursday. The hotline remained active through the weekend, fielding price gouging complaints from across the state. Most of the complaints were gasoline-related, Crist said, with more than 1,550 incidents of gasoline price hikes reported. Reports of increases at the pump have ranged from 10 cents to one dollar per gallon. Of the complaints regarding gas price gouging, 243 involve Shell gas stations, he said.
To view the subpoena issued to Tate Oil, click here.
To view the subpoena issued to Motiva, click here.
Also, Florida Agriculture & Consumer Services Commissioner Charles H. Bronson on Monday said that he has issued subpoenas for financial records of 11 gas stations in the wake of price gouging calls and complaints to his department in connection with Hurricane Dennis.
Bronson said the subpoenas are being sent to stations to determine whether they engaged in price gouging or whether alleged price increases imposed by the stations were merely cases of the stations passing on increased costs incurred by them. We have received a barrage of calls that some service stations have engaged in price gouging, and we are going to find out whether that's the case as quickly as possible, Bronson said. If we find any that have, we will pursue them as aggressively as we can.
The stations that were issued subpoenas are ones which are alleged by consumers to have raised prices between 26 and 45 cents a gallon during the emergency.
Under Florida law, it is unlawful to charge exorbitant or excessive prices for essential items, including gasoline, ice, water, lumber, generators and shelter, following the declaration of an emergency, unless the increases in the amount charged are attributable to additional costs incurred by retailers. The declared state of emergency activated the statute. Individuals or businesses found to have engaged in price gouging face fines of up to $1,000 per violation, or up to $25,000 a day.
Bronson's toll-free hotline has received more than 1,225 calls since Friday and about 650 complaints, he said, most involving gasoline.
The Commissioner said that additional subpoenas are expected to be issued to other stations later this week and emphasized that every complaint received by his department will be investigated.
Meanwhile, consumers have filed about 55 complaints with the Louisiana Attorney General's office alleging gasoline price gouging just before Hurricane Dennis slammed into the Gulf Coast, said the Associated Press.
The complaints are under investigation and it is too soon to tell whether any overcharging is involved, spokesperson Kris Wartelle told AP. Violators could be subject to civil penalties and ordered to return money to complaining consumers.
Motorists said they noticed a sudden increase late last week as some residents of south Louisiana and other Gulf Coast states evacuated before Dennis' arrival on Sunday.
The average price of regular unleaded gasoline in Louisiana was $2.19 per gallon on Monday, according to AAA. The national average is $2.29 per gallon for regular unleaded gasoline and gas prices have increased nationwide recently.
"I can tell you that is not unique to Louisiana," Mike Right, spokesperson for the AAA in St. Louis, told AP. "We have seen a dramatic increase in gasoline prices nationwide in the last week or so."
Gasoline prices have risen mostly because the cost of oil hit nearly $62 per barrel last week, said Larry Wall, spokesperson for the Mid-Continent Oil & Gas Association in Baton Rouge. "When the price of oil goes up, the price of gasoline has to go up," Wall said. "The hurricane probably did cause some supply disruptions and that probably sent prices up in some places. But we already had $2.10 gasoline."
Natalie Babin, executive director of the Louisiana Oil Marketers & Convenience Store Association, blamed higher gasoline prices on last week's terrorist attacks in London, Tropical Storm Cindy and Hurricane Dennis. "We hate high gas prices as much as anyone," she said. "People tend not to come into the store to buy that Coca Cola or a pack of cigarettes when gas is higher. That is when our [profit] margins are lowest, when gas prices are highest."
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