Mosesatm
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As mercury rises, motorists get burned
Gasoline expands as it gets warmer, so there's less energy in each gallon in summertime. Several lawsuits accuse gas stations of using simple physics to cheat consumers.
By The Associated Press
It is not just increased demand that sends U.S. summertime gasoline prices soaring. It is also the increased temperature. As the temperature rises, gasoline expands, and the amount of energy in each gallon drops. Because gas is priced at a 60-degree standard and gas pumps do not adjust for temperature changes, motorists often get less bang for their buck in warmer weather.
Consumer watchdog groups warn that temperature increases could end up costing U.S. consumers between 3 and 9 cents a gallon at the pump. The effect could cost drivers more than $1.5 billion in over summer, including $228 million in California alone, according to the House Subcommittee on Domestic Policy, which recently addressed it in hearings. The committee's chairman, Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, has long been an advocate on the issue and has new clout as a member of the congressional majority.
Gas retailers say forcing stations to adjust their pumps would be too costly, and they asked Kucinich to call off the hearings and wait for more studies.
The issue has driven trial lawyers to fire off as many as 20 federal lawsuits accusing retailers of using simple physics to take advantage of consumers. Challenges have been filed in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Florida, Kansas, Missouri and New Jersey, among other states, and some are seeking class-action status.
The latest lawsuit, filed last week in federal court in Georgia, says distributors have been "unjustly enriched" by tens of millions of dollars. They did so by paying taxes on the fuel based on the colder industry standard but pocketing the taxes collected from customers when the temperature soared, it alleged.
"I don't believe gas retailers should collect more in purported taxes than they pay the government," said Bryan Vroon, one of the attorneys in the Georgia suit. "Gas prices are high enough without the over-collection of taxes."
The "hot fuel" effect is a matter of simple physics.
Retailers ignore the swings
Almost a century ago, the industry and regulators agreed to define a gallon of gasoline as 231 cubic inches at 60 degrees. But as the mercury rises and gasoline expands, it takes more than a gallon of gas to produce the same amount of energy. The opposite is true when gasoline contracts in colder weather. Gas retailers ignore the temperature swings and always dispense fuel as if it's 60 degrees. As a result, gas is an average of about 5 degrees warmer than the federal standard, according to a study analyzed by Dick Suiter of the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the average U.S. temperature in May was 63 degrees. The average for all of 2006 was 55 degrees. But drivers fare worst in Southern and Western states where the temperatures are the most consistently warm.
Increased demand also sends gas prices higher during the peak summer travel season, so the effect of paying more for less in the warmer months is more pronounced.
Consumer watchdogs say drivers pay between 3 and 9 cents a gallon -- more than $1.5 billion over the course of a summer -- because gas pumps don't account for temperature changes.
'Big Oil's double standard'
Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer recently urged California lawmakers to take action. And Kucinich earlier this month called a hearing on the issue, calling it "Big Oil's double standard."
"People are paying for gasoline they're not getting," said Kucinich, who is running for president.
Lawmakers do not have to look very far for possible solutions. In frigid Canada, where cold temperatures were giving consumers an edge, many gas stations voluntarily backed a program to add pumps that automatically adjust volumes based on temperature.
During the energy crisis in the 1970s, tropical Hawaii decided to set a base fuel temperature of 80 degrees, meaning that consumers there get more bang for their buck because retailers now dispense 234 cubic inches of gas per gallon rather than 231.
The federal government is considering a similar change as well. The National Conference on Weights and Measures is to vote in July on whether to allow temperature regulation by retailers.
The upcoming decision is worrying some fuel distributors, who say the new equipment could force some independent dealers out of business. NATSO, a trade group representing truck-stop owners, estimates that each retrofitted pump could cost between $1,500 and $3,800.
"The average truck stop has 20 pumps," said Mindy Long, a spokeswoman for the group. "The burden on them would be phenomenal."
NATSO and gas retailers have formed a group called PUMP, the Partnership for Uniform Marketing Practices, which is calling for more studies before taking any action.
This article was reported and written by Greg Bluestein for The Associated Press.
Gasoline expands as it gets warmer, so there's less energy in each gallon in summertime. Several lawsuits accuse gas stations of using simple physics to cheat consumers.
By The Associated Press
It is not just increased demand that sends U.S. summertime gasoline prices soaring. It is also the increased temperature. As the temperature rises, gasoline expands, and the amount of energy in each gallon drops. Because gas is priced at a 60-degree standard and gas pumps do not adjust for temperature changes, motorists often get less bang for their buck in warmer weather.
Consumer watchdog groups warn that temperature increases could end up costing U.S. consumers between 3 and 9 cents a gallon at the pump. The effect could cost drivers more than $1.5 billion in over summer, including $228 million in California alone, according to the House Subcommittee on Domestic Policy, which recently addressed it in hearings. The committee's chairman, Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, has long been an advocate on the issue and has new clout as a member of the congressional majority.
Gas retailers say forcing stations to adjust their pumps would be too costly, and they asked Kucinich to call off the hearings and wait for more studies.
The issue has driven trial lawyers to fire off as many as 20 federal lawsuits accusing retailers of using simple physics to take advantage of consumers. Challenges have been filed in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Florida, Kansas, Missouri and New Jersey, among other states, and some are seeking class-action status.
The latest lawsuit, filed last week in federal court in Georgia, says distributors have been "unjustly enriched" by tens of millions of dollars. They did so by paying taxes on the fuel based on the colder industry standard but pocketing the taxes collected from customers when the temperature soared, it alleged.
"I don't believe gas retailers should collect more in purported taxes than they pay the government," said Bryan Vroon, one of the attorneys in the Georgia suit. "Gas prices are high enough without the over-collection of taxes."
The "hot fuel" effect is a matter of simple physics.
Retailers ignore the swings
Almost a century ago, the industry and regulators agreed to define a gallon of gasoline as 231 cubic inches at 60 degrees. But as the mercury rises and gasoline expands, it takes more than a gallon of gas to produce the same amount of energy. The opposite is true when gasoline contracts in colder weather. Gas retailers ignore the temperature swings and always dispense fuel as if it's 60 degrees. As a result, gas is an average of about 5 degrees warmer than the federal standard, according to a study analyzed by Dick Suiter of the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the average U.S. temperature in May was 63 degrees. The average for all of 2006 was 55 degrees. But drivers fare worst in Southern and Western states where the temperatures are the most consistently warm.
Increased demand also sends gas prices higher during the peak summer travel season, so the effect of paying more for less in the warmer months is more pronounced.
Consumer watchdogs say drivers pay between 3 and 9 cents a gallon -- more than $1.5 billion over the course of a summer -- because gas pumps don't account for temperature changes.
'Big Oil's double standard'
Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer recently urged California lawmakers to take action. And Kucinich earlier this month called a hearing on the issue, calling it "Big Oil's double standard."
"People are paying for gasoline they're not getting," said Kucinich, who is running for president.
Lawmakers do not have to look very far for possible solutions. In frigid Canada, where cold temperatures were giving consumers an edge, many gas stations voluntarily backed a program to add pumps that automatically adjust volumes based on temperature.
During the energy crisis in the 1970s, tropical Hawaii decided to set a base fuel temperature of 80 degrees, meaning that consumers there get more bang for their buck because retailers now dispense 234 cubic inches of gas per gallon rather than 231.
The federal government is considering a similar change as well. The National Conference on Weights and Measures is to vote in July on whether to allow temperature regulation by retailers.
The upcoming decision is worrying some fuel distributors, who say the new equipment could force some independent dealers out of business. NATSO, a trade group representing truck-stop owners, estimates that each retrofitted pump could cost between $1,500 and $3,800.
"The average truck stop has 20 pumps," said Mindy Long, a spokeswoman for the group. "The burden on them would be phenomenal."
NATSO and gas retailers have formed a group called PUMP, the Partnership for Uniform Marketing Practices, which is calling for more studies before taking any action.
This article was reported and written by Greg Bluestein for The Associated Press.
