To The Editor:
Have you noticed how high gasoline prices are in Waitsfield?
On May 22, 2018, wholesale gasoline prices hit a high of $2.27 per gallon. Retail prices in Waitsfield were $2.99 to $2.97 per gallon. The difference is 72 cents. This is 5 cents below the usual markup from wholesale.
Since June 1, 2018, the wholesale price of gasoline has averaged $2.04 per gallon. With the normal markup of 77 cents to retail in Waitsfield, the average retail price should have been $2.81 per gallon.
Since the middle of October 2018, the wholesale price has gone from $1.98 to $1.81. Today’s price translates to $1.81 + .77 or $2.58 per gallon for regular gasoline.
This situation exists from Burlington to Montpelier and north. Senator Sanders addressed the same situation in 2015. Now the distributors in our area are at it again.
I’ve had advice from both Senator Leahy’s office and Congressman Welch’s office to take the matter to Vermont Attorney General Donovan’s office. I did. Twice. They referred me to “Weights and Measures” twice, and Weights and Measures referred me back to the attorney general’s office.
Think of all the gallons of regular gasoline that have been purchased in our area over the past five months. The pickups, the work trucks, the SUVs and old cars that get terrible mileage plus all other vehicles that use regular gasoline. How much money have the distributors and retail gas stations ripped off the average driving Vermonter?
John Skinner
Waitsfield
