GAS: Locals see collusion at work

I was eagerly awaiting the opening of the Maverick gas station, because when we were in McCall this summer, they were 40 cents a gallon cheaper for diesel than the Shell or Chevron. Lo and behold, Maverick opens at $3.77 a gallon for diesel and $3.13 for regular, and now most of the stations in town have met or beat those prices.

Maybe it is coincidental with rumored drop in fuel prices, but I doubt it. What I see is collusion between all the local dealers to keep the prices of fuel artificially higher than necessary. Everybody is struggling to make ends meet, but it is unconscionable to make an excessive profit on the back of the working poor. There is a name for that; it’s called price fixing, and it’s illegal. Maybe the Attorney General needs to do a little snooping around and find out if there was a tacit, implied or actual agreement to set prices and take competition out of the equation.

KENT SETTY

Coeur d’Alene