Senator Kerry Calls For Federal Investigation Of Gas Price Gouging

01/08/2008 -- BOSTON – Senator John Kerry today asked the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to launch an investigation into allegations of gas price gouging.

“People throughout Massachusetts are breaking the bank to fill their gas tanks, while oil companies reap windfall profits. That’s just plain wrong. That’s why I’m asking the federal government to investigate why prices have increased so dramatically,” said Senator Kerry. “This crisis is yet another reminder of Washington’s glaring inaction about our nation’s dependence on oil. It’s long past time to get serious about making America energy independent. This ongoing crisis hits people in the wallets, threatens our entire economy, degrades our environment and compromises our national security.”

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Kerry joins local leaders, including North Adams Mayor, John Barrett, in pushing for an investigation.

“Finally someone is paying attention to the plight of the working people,” said Mayor Barrett.

In November, Kerry expressed his concern to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regarding similar price gouging allegations.

The text of the letter is as follows:

January 8, 2008
The Honorable David Walker
Government Accountability Office
441 G St., NW
Washington, DC 20548

Dear Comptroller General Walker,

In November of last year, I wrote to Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairwoman Deborah Majoras to express my concern regarding reports of gasoline price manipulation in my home state of Massachusetts. This letter was sent in response to concerns expressed by several mayors in Cities and towns across western Massachusetts, who cited significant variations in gasoline prices.

In the months that have followed, concerns on the part of local officials have persisted. While the FTC’s Gasoline and Diesel Price Monitoring Project analyzes price movements across the nation, the Commission acknowledges that its analysis and subsequent findings are based on “trends in average area prices”, and are “not adequate to answer questions about pricing by individual stations or individual wholesale marketers”.

Many of the concerns we are hearing relate to the behavior of individual stations, and despite the continued efforts of the FTC, I believe an independent audit of individual retailer behavior conducted by the U.S. Government Accountability Office would play an integral role in assessing whether or not price gouging is occurring in Western Massachusetts as well as other parts of the country.

In response to the ongoing concerns expressed by the mayor of North Adams and by other western Massachusetts communities, I respectfully request that you initiate an investigation of reported gasoline price gouging in the western part of the state and in similar rural parts of the country.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. Should you have any questions regarding the nature of this request, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,

John Kerry

United States Senate

Source: Senator John Kerry