HARTFORD, Conn. -- Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and state Department of Consumer Protection (DCP) Commissioner Edwin R. Rodriguez announced price gouging settlements with four more gasoline retailers.
New Milford CITGO has agreed to pay $4,400; Valero stations in Suffield and Wethersfield have agreed to pay $20,085; and CITGO Cheshire has agreed to pay $2,200.
The retailers agreed to the settlements after Blumenthal and Rodriguez found evidence of price gouging during the abnormal market conditions immediately [image-nocss] following Hurricane Katrina, the AG's office said.
Blumenthal and Rodriguez alleged that these stations profited by raising their retail gasoline prices beyond the amount attributable to additional wholesale costs or fees imposed on the retailers. The settlements require the retailers to pay the state for excess profits and to comply with laws prohibiting unconscionably excessive prices during abnormal market disruptions or anticipated disruptions.
Under the settlements, the retailers have agreed to comply with Public Act No. 05-02, Section 10, which provides: (b) No seller during any period of abnormal market disruption or during any period in which an imminent abnormal market disruption is reasonably anticipated shall sell or offer to sell an energy resource for an amount that represents an unconscionably excessive price. (c) Evidence that (1) the amount charged represents a gross disparity between the price of an energy resource that was the subject of the transaction and the price at which such energy resource was sold or offered for sale by the seller in the usual course of business immediately prior to (A) the onset of an abnormal market disruption, or (B) any period in which an imminent abnormal market disruption is reasonably anticipated, and (2) the amount charged by the seller was not attributable to additional costs incurred by the seller in connection with the sale of such product, shall constitute prima facie evidence that a price is unconscionably excessive.
Previously, Blumenthal and Rodriguez announced settlements with four other retailers who allegedly price gouged during the abnormal market conditions related to Katrina. Those settlements, announced in March, involved Blue Hills Getty in Bloomfield, which agreed to pay $1,591; Opal Ventures V LLC, doing business as Mobil of Newington, which agreed to pay $5,000; New Milford Hess LLC of New Milford, which agreed to pay $1,800; and Huntington Gulf of Shelton, which has since been sold and is under new ownership, which agreed to pay $4,300.
The retailers in all cases deny wrongdoing.
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