COLUMBIA --- Aiken County is home to at least one gas station owner who has been issued a subpoena by South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster's office in the wake of a statewide crackdown on gas gouging.
The office on Wednesday had issued 13 subpoenas across 14 counties, after receiving about 3,800 complaints from the public of gas gouging. Some owners have stations in more than one county and are given one subpoena for all stations, according to the state Attorney General's office.
The complaints have been coming in since Friday when Mr. McMaster invoked the state's anti-gouging law for a 15-day period. Gas prices have shot up past $4 a gallon after recent storms disrupted oil operations.
"There is no doubt most of these stations are doing everything right," said Mr. McMaster. "Most rises in prices have nothing to do with gouging. They're based on market forces beyond the control of these people. ... But we know there are people who will gouge."
Mark Plowden, spokesman for the attorney general, said most gas stations that have been contacted have voluntarily provided the information sought.
But when a representative has trouble collecting documents from a gas station, whether because of the operator's refusal or the absence of the manager, the gas station owner receives a subpoena, Mr. Plowden said.
"Beginning (Tuesday) night and continuing until there is no longer a need, we have representatives in the field visiting outlets in person to obtain this same information," he said.
"We need to establish basically what a person knew when they made certain financial and price-setting decisions, and what were they being told by their supplier and not being told by their supplier," Mr. Plowden said.
Maximum penalties for gas gouging include a civil fine of $5,000 per sale and a criminal fine of $1,000 per sale and a possible jail sentence of 30 days.
GEORGIA SUBPOENAS GAS STATIONS' SALES RECORDS
ATLANTA --- The state's consumer affairs office has subpoenaed sales records of at least nine gas stations since Hurricane Ike disrupted fuel supplies and drove prices beyond $5 a gallon in some areas, an official said Wednesday.
Complaints of price gouging are still pouring into the Governor's Office of Consumer Affairs. About 250 calls came in Wednesday, and the office received 475 others since Gov. Sonny Perdue enacted the state's anti-gouging law Friday night, said Ann Infinger, deputy administrator.
Ms. Infinger said it takes up to three weeks to receive the records. Resolutions to the investigations can take longer.
Hundreds of stations have been notified of the anti-gouging law, she said.
When the law is in effect, gas stations are prohibited from increasing their retail gas prices beyond the additional amount they pay at the wholesale level.
-- Morris News Service
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