Relief Initiatives Will Help Lower Prices At The Pump And Stabilize Heating Oil Prices

With the price of gasoline climbing and the summer driving season around the corner, I joined Democratic Leaders of the General Assembly to unveil a proposal to provide relief at the pump and protect consumers from profiteering and price gouging by big oil wholesalers.

Price relief at the pump is a top priority. Current pricing creates a hardship for all Connecticut citizens and particularly hurts those on fixed incomes and the working poor who are struggling to make ends meet.

The Democrats’ plan:

• Caps the gross receipts tax (GRT) on motor fuels at $3.00/per gallon wholesale, upon passage.
• Prohibits oil wholesalers and distributers (those who pay the gross receipts tax) from passing on anything purporting to be based on the tax for the portion of any sales price over $3.00 per gallon.
• Any such overcharging a Connecticut Unfair Trade Practice Act (CUTPA) violation.

• Amends the petroleum profiteering statute, C.G.S. § 42-234 et seq. (“abnormal market disruptions”) to include an automatic trigger based on extreme wholesale price increases, for price gouging protections to go into effect.
• Puts everyone in supply chain on notice of serious penalties for increasing their profit margins during such disruptions.

• Legislatively declares an “abnormal market disruption” upon passage for a set period of one month in anticipation of further wholesale price spikes.

•   The wholesale price at the Port of New Haven is up $.13 since 3/1/12;
• The spike has not hit the pumps, with average retail prices rising only $.02 cents since 3/1/12 from $3.99/gal to $4.01/gal.

I commend legislative leadership for including home heating oil in the legislation as home heating oil which is based on diesel fuel has spiked during the winter making it unaffordable as a source for heating homes. There is no sound reasoning as to why home heating oil should be priced higher than gasoline at the pumps given that it is not subject to either federal or state taxes.

Home heating oil averaged anywhere from $3.69 to $3.99 per gallon this heating season at a time when gasoline had peaked at around $3.59 per gallon.