Three SC Gas Stations, Wholesaler Agree to Price Gouging Settlement

Columbia, SC—South Carolina’s attorney general has reached a settlement with three gas stations and one gasoline wholesaler over charges they were price gouging after hurricanes Gustav and Ike last September.

“We had about 4,300 calls,“ says Henry McMaster, referring to the complaints that poured into his office after gas prices climbed near $5 a gallon, or above in some cases.

But after investigating those complaints and looking at the price retailers had to pay after the hurricanes limited the supply of gas, McMaster says most stations were not gouging. However, the four involved in the settlement had prices that “were out of line with general market prices and were potentially unconscionable,“ according to the settlement.

The four are:

• Bob’s Food and Fuel, on Mineral Springs Road, in Lexington County
• Best Stop, on Leaphart Road, in West Columbia, SC.
• Citgo, on Highway 72 East, in Clinton, SC
• TransMontaigne, a wholesaler based in Denver, but with a facility in Spartanburg, SC

The owners of Bob’s Food and Fuel, and Best Stop, said they charged such high prices because of the high price they had to pay their wholesaler, last September. The home office for the Citgo station did not return a phone call seeking comment. A spokesperson for the parent company of TransMontaigne sent us a written statement that said simply, “We are pleased to have resolved this issue with the State of South Carolina.“

The three stations have given the American Red Cross $500 each for hurricane relief. TransMontaigne settled for $5,000, also going to the American Red Cross for hurricane relief.

McMaster says a settlement was the best way to go, saving taxpayers the expense of taking the companies to court. But, if customers had to pay more than they should have, why don’t they get anything back?

“That’s just the way the law works,“ McMaster says. “And, even if there were fines, if there were criminal fines and we had a million dollars, there’s no way to send that back to the customers. That’s the way criminal fines work. You do have restitution, under some parts of the law. You don’t have it here.“

There were fewer cases of gas gouging in 2008 than there were after Hurricane Katrina raised prices in 2005. Then, McMaster settled with 7 gas stations, each of which also paid $500 to a Katrina relief fund.