Friday, March 21, 2008

Regulating The Gasoline/Petroleum Industry As A Utility

The time is now to advocate regulating the gasoline/petroleum industry as a utility. The Federal Government must impose a rate-of-return regulation on refiners based on a formula similar to other public utilities that are regulated. The gasoline/petroleum industry has demonstrated over the last several years an excessive greed in profit taking at the mercy of the consumer.

Politicians would have you believe gasoline, diesel and home heating fuel are free market consumables. The truth of the matter is our country runs on refined oil products. If the supply of refined petroleum was cut off right now our country would come to a complete standstill. Any product that can have such an impact on everyones quality of life needs to be considered a necessary utility. And, necessary utilities need to be regulated to assure sufficient availability to meet our needs at a fair price.

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