OSHKOSH, Wis. -- Forty-two Green Bay-area gas stations are suing ethanol producer Utica Energy LLC and its associated retailer, Renew E-85, for $12 million for alleged violations of the state's Unfair Sales Act, according to a Winnebago County civil suit.
This represents an effort by at least some gasoline retailers to take aggressive action against at least one ethanol seller utilizing a state minimum mark-up law, Bauer told Gannett Wisconsin. I think a great many consumers in this state would be astonished to know there is such a law on the books.
According to court records, the station owners claim Renew's two-pump station on Lineville Road in Howard sold fuel below the minimum price allowed under the state's Unfair Sales Act, also referred to as the minimum mark-up law, for 143 days from Aug. 12, 2006, to Jan. 1, 2007. Based on unspecified injuries, each station owner asked the court to order Utica Energy and Renew to pay each station a total of $2,000-per-day per-violation, or $286,000.
The station operators are also seeking a permanent injunction to keep Renew from selling vehicle fuel, said the report. The attorney representing all 42 of the stations, Frank Kowalkowski of Hanaway Ross, was not available for comment Monday, the newspaper said.
Bauer has denied the station owners' claims, and argued that the case is without merit based on the due process clause in the 14th Amendment that prohibits excessive penalties. He argued in a response to the stations' lawsuit that the station owners' claims are more about the threat ethanol producers pose to Big Oil than anything else, saying the stations ganged up on Renew and Utica.
The obvious goal is to put not just that station, but Renew itself, out of business, a March 29 filing cited by the paper read.
The station operators countered that Renew's sale of 10%, 20% and 85% ethanol fuel below the required minimum mark-up gives the Oshkosh, Wis.-based company a competitive advantage and forced other vendors to lower their prices, resulting in a loss of revenue and further attempts to induce the operators to buy ethanol directly from Utica Energy.
Renew stations have drawn the attention of Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade & Consumer Protection officials, who have issued the company several warning letters about selling fuel below the price other companies charge, said the report. But Governor Jim Doyle has told those officials not to pursue cases against ethanol producers and blenders like Utica Energy.
The station operators have requested permission to appeal Key's decision to allow Utica and Renew to defend themselves with the 14th Amendment. But Bauer remains confident in the argument that the financial payouts requested are not related to any actual financial losses. It really boils down to a question of fairness, Bauer said. The amount of money these plaintiffs are asking for bears no reasonable relationship to the state's interest in regulating [the motor fuel] field.
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