Gas Prices Town Hall: Answers are coming

Answers are coming

Gas Prices Town Hall kicks off a grassroots and political hunt for why we pay so much more for fuel than in neighbouring communities.

BY PIETA WOOLLEY | pieta@prliving.ca

On December 15, Powell River Living moderated a Fuel Prices Town Hall at the Evergreen Theatre. It was a follow-up to work done on the community’s behalf by our locally-elected officials, MLA Nicholas Simons and MP Rachel Blaney, plus citizen rage on Facebook, and articles I’d written for the October and November issues of PRL.

More than 100 people came out, and about one third of them spoke at the microphone; the questions were excellent. Global TV sent a team and reported the meeting on the 6 pm news. The Vancouver Sun and Province reported on it as well. So did local media. You can find a recording of the event by Larry Gerow and all the media that came out of it, plus good discussion, on the Powell River Fuel Price Protest page on Facebook.

Of everyone fuel-involved who was officially invited by the MP’s office to come to the meeting, only one person showed up: former Powell River mayor and Regional District Chair Colin Palmer. He doesn’t own a fuel business, but he did write a significant submission to the BC Utilities Commission on behalf of the community.

As soon as we hear back from the BCUC and the Competition Bureau, we’ll report back to you. We should know something within the next month.

TAKING ACTION: Locals sign petitions to the BC Utilities Commission and the Canadian Competition Bureau on December 15, asking for answers on Powell River gas pricing. About 27 cents per litre is likely shared between ground transportation in Vancouver, the fuel storage companies, and gas stations. How much is a reasonable amount of profit for a fuel company to make? That’s a question we’ll grapple with as a community when we have more information.

What did the meeting really achieve?

Wait and see.

The goal of the meeting was very specific: to give MLA Nicholas Simons and MP Rachel Blaney ammunition to fight on our behalf.

Nicholas will take your petition to the BC Utilities Commission and ask for an investigation into Powell River’s high and (for most of 2019) unwavering gas prices. With the power of his party’s new Fuel Price Transparency Act, fuel companies now must open their books to the BCUC. Hopefully, we’ll soon find out if anyone has been grossly profiting from Powell River’s fuel supply.

Rachel will take your petition to the federal Competition Bureau and ask for an investigation into whether there have been anti-competitive practices among local fuel companies. Elsewhere in Canada, the Bureau found some fuel companies guilty of collusion and fined them.

I wasn’t able to get to the meeting, but I want to get involved.

Great! Send an email stating your concerns to MLA Nicholas Simons at nicholas.simons.mla@leg.bc.ca, and MP Rachel Blaney at rachel.blaney@parl.gc.ca. Petitions will be available until February 1 at MP Rachel Blaney’s office.

Everything is expensive. Why are we focusing on gas prices?

First, gas in Powell River has been outrageously higher than in other communities, costing the average two driver family about $100 more per month than in neighbouring centres. It’s an unexplained phenomenon that’s adversely affecting individuals and businesses.

Second, it’s something citizens can do something about. Thanks to the two democratic tools – the BCUC (with the new Fuel Transparency Act) and the Competition Bureau – we will hopefully have answers soon.