AUGUSTA, Maine -- Gasoline and diesel prices in Maine have soared, but Attorney General Steven Rowe said it is not because of price gouging by retailers or wholesalers in Maine. "The prices are high all across the country," he told The Bangor Daily News. "We monitor on a weekly basis the prices in Maine relative to those in other states. The retailers are passing on the price they pay and are getting a reasonable margin."
Rowe said his office also closely monitors the margins retailers receive on the fuel they sell. He said that so far there have been no cases where the profit margin was [image-nocss] out of line. "But we will continue to monitor the margins and we will take action if we find they are a problem," he added.
Chris Jackson, vice president of the Maine Oil Dealers Association, told the newspaper that the profit margin on a gallon of fuel varies among retailers, but most are in the 5 to 10 cents a gallon range. He said retailers, particularly small mom-and-pop stores, also have been hurt by the increased fuel costs.
"It costs more to get the product delivered than it did," he said. "Most of the delivery trucks are diesel and it is higher than gasoline," indicating the rising cost of running the delivery trucks.
"Some of my members are really hurting," Jackson said. "The high cost of energy is hurting everyone."
Rowe said he is convinced neither Maine retailers nor wholesalers are the reason Maine consumers are staggering under the rising fuel costs. "But if somebody thinks there is a station involved in price gouging, they should call us and we will look into that," he said. "But we have not seen any."
He said Congress has not acted on the request he and other state attorneys general made in 2005 to regulate speculation in the energy markets. "There are permissive rules and a lack of oversight," he said. "We also know there is a supply-and-demand aspect to this. China and India certainly have also increased their demand on the world market."
Rowe said Congress needs to repeal the "Enron loophole" that has exempted much of the trading in energy futures by speculators. "We have done that in the Farm Bill, and I think it will be acted on before the Memorial Day recess," U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) told the paper. "It has been in conference for months now, but I am told it will be reported to the floor soon."
Snowe's measure would increase federal oversight authority to detect and prevent manipulation of U.S. electronic energy markets. She said it would increase transparency and would create an audit trail, limit speculation, and impose significant financial penalties for market manipulation and speculation.
"Everybody is being hurt by these high prices at the pump," she said. "We had a report back months ago that indicated 25% to 30% of the price of a barrel of crude is caused by speculation. This has to stop."
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