WGXC-90.7 FM

AG James warns against price gouging of fuel

May 14, 2021 5:45 am

Nick Reisman is reporting for State of Politics Attorney General Letitia James [Luh·tee·shuh Jeimz], in a statement May 13, warned businesses against price gouging at the gas pump after the Colonial Pipeline was shut down for several days following a major hack of the company. State law bars sellers of fuel and other necessary goods from excessively increasing prices during a market disruption, including supply shortages, as a way to generate a windfall profit. The pipeline is back online, but delivery is not expected to return to full capacity for several days, and the hack caused some temporary supply issues in parts of the country that led to panic buying. James said, "To be clear, the price gouging of fuel in New York state will not be tolerated for a moment. If our office sees profiteers take advantage of consumers by boosting prices to excess levels, we will not hesitate to take legal action. ..." The average price of a gallon of gas in upstate New York and suburban counties remains around or below $3 and just above $3 in New York City as of early Thu., May 13, according to Gasbuddy [dot] com. Read the full story at nystateofpolitics [dot] com.