Confused? That’s because local gas prices are not explained by the new gaspricesbc.ca website... yet

Confused? That’s because local gas prices are not explained by the new gaspricesbc.ca website... yet

BY PIETA WOOLLEY | pieta@prliving.ca

The light purple stripe on the chart above is what we’re interested in. That shows the retail margin of Powell River’s gas prices - how much gas stations charge customers. At press time, the gaspricesbc.ca website was reporting that the retail margin here is 24 cents a litre - much higher than the eight cents a litre the fuel think tank Kent Group says is average for Canadian gas stations.

As anyone who has been following this story knows, there’s something wrong with this chart. Indeed, a spokesperson for the gaspricesbc.ca confirmed to Powell River Living that these calculations do not take into account how much it costs to ship gas here, transport it on the ground in Richmond, and store it. All of those costs are represented in the purple stripe – which makes it look like gas stations are gouguing us with 24 cents a litre, instead of that 24 cents being spread among several gas-handling companies.

Gas stations are probably not gouging us. But, Powell River drivers would like to know how much we are being charged for each step in that process–which is why we’ve been banging on the provincial government’s door for so long.

The information is coming, according to Kristine Bienert, the BCUC’s executive director of compliance, energy supply and mandatory reliability standards. She explained that available public data was put on the website this spring. This summer, website staff have been collecting comments on that data from individuals, including some from Powell River. In November, they’ll start the actual investigation of how much each business is getting from gas – unless interrupted by a different mandate if another party wins the October 24 election – and they’ll report that on the website as it becomes available.

“Based on the feedback we have received through our website, we understand that residents of Powell River and other cities in BC, would like the BCUC to do a deeper investigation into what is causing price differences in their cities,” said Bienert. “We are hopeful that some of the information individuals are seeking will become clear through the publishing of further data as well as future BCUC analysis and reports. In addition, we look forward to hearing more from the public throughout the remainder of this data collection project, as well as the Retail Pilot.”

October 2020 marks one year since Powell River Living magazine published its first article investigating local gas prices. Since then, we’ve published many more, co-hosted a Town Hall with our MP Rachel Blaney and MLA Nicholas Simons, sent petitions to Ottawa and Victoria asking for political action, and kept a keen eye on what the BC Utilities Commission (BCUC) is up to.

The limits of reasonable local action on gas prices have been reached. At this point, we’re looking to the BCUC, which has been investigating the higher price for fuel in BC since early 2019. Why, in other words, have gas prices here been up to 30 cents per litre higher than in neighbouring communities?

NOT THAT HELPFUL: The BC Utilities Commission’s gaspricesbc.ca website will start publishing results of its investigations sometime over the next year. The above is just based on available public information.

At the same time, the BCUC is continuing its work investigating why gas prices BC-wide are so much higher than they are elsewhere in Canada. At the end of the agency’s investigaton in summer 2019, the BCUC couldn’t explain the last 13 cent per litre discrepancy between gas prices here and elsewhere in Canada.

The good news is, since this BCUC work and citizen work began last year, local gas prices dipped from where they were stuck for so long at $1.59.9 per litre, and are now much closer to our neighbouring communities’ prices.