House To Vote on Fuel Price Gouging Ban

A bill intended to prevent price gouging of consumer fuel, including diesel, is coming up for a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives next week.

The Consumer Fuel Price Gouging Prevention Act would allow the president to issue an emergency proclamation prohibiting the sale of wholesale or retail consumer fuel at a price that is “unconscionably excessive” and “indicates the seller is exploiting the circumstances related to an energy emergency to increase prices unreasonably.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a press conference on Thursday that despite high fuel prices at the pump, oil and gas companies continue to see record profits. She said the top seven oil companies have announced buybacks that could total almost $41 billion this year alone.

“Price gouging needs to be stopped,” Pelosi said. “This is a major exploitation of the consumer.”

The proposed legislation, which was introduced May 6, states that the first priority for enforcement would be companies with total U.S. wholesale or retail sales of consumer fuels in excess of $500 million per year. This would be enforced by the Federal Trade Commission.

Civil penalties against sellers would help fund the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program and the Weatherization Assistance Program.