3 States Launch Gas Market Tampering Probe

[sybylla]

http://www.jsonline.com/news/state/sep05/352619.asp

Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois on lookout for any price gouging
By LARRY SANDLER and PATRICK MARLEY
[e-mail]
Posted: Sept. 1, 2005

The attorneys general from Wisconsin, Iowa and Illinois will conduct a joint investigation into whether anyone is manipulating the gas market in their states in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Wisconsin Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager said Thursday.

But if they find wholesalers or retailers are tampering with the market, little can be done about it here because Wisconsin has no law against price gouging, Lautenschlager said. She said she was drafting legislation with Sen. Dave Hansen (D-Green Bay) and Rep. Josh Zepnick (D-Milwaukee) to remedy that situation.

Gov. Jim Doyle threw his support behind both the investigation and the legislation and asked the Environmental Protection Agency to temporarily lift a requirement to sell only cleaner-burning reformulated gas in southeastern Wisconsin.

Erin Roth, executive director of the Wisconsin Petroleum Council, and Bob Bartlett, president of the Wisconsin Petroleum Marketers & Convenience Store Association, hailed the request for the EPA waiver, which they said would make it easier to move gas into the Milwaukee area from other parts of the state and nation.

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