AG: Isolated cases of gas price-gouging

The New York attorney general”™s review of gasoline pricing in the state in 2011 found only isolated cases of price-gouging by gas-station retailers during Tropical Storm Irene.

Neither gas retailers nor wholesale dealers supplying stations were to blame for price spikes at the pumps early last year, Atty. Gen. Eric T. Schneiderman said in his recently released findings of his office”™s statewide study. The state review of dealer price records began last March in response to consumer complaints.

Price surges last spring that sent the pump price for regular unleaded gas above $4 a gallon were primarily driven by changes in the price of crude oil, Schneiderman said. Retail stations did not significantly increase their per-gallon markup as prices rose, he said.

A Yonkers business, Parmod Food Mart Inc., was one of two gas-stations operators in the state charged with price-gouging during the August tropical storm that raced up the East Coast.

Doing business as Ultimate Quality Food and Fuel Mart and Parmod Pitt Stop, the station at 60 Elm St. raised its unleaded price 97 cents a gallon over two days during the storm. The attorney general said the Yonkers company will pay $7,500 in civil penalties and costs.