A motorist gets gas at a Sheetz station on West King Street in Martinsburg on Thursday afternoon. Gas prices have climbed back over $2 per gallon at many area gas stations.
MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — Although the cost of fuel in Martinsburg is currently on the rise, a 2016 piece of legislation amending a Depression-era law will allow gas stations around the Eastern Panhandle to lower their prices to stay competitive with surrounding areas.
Senate Bill 259 was passed by legislators on March 11 and sent to Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin’s desk March 23. The bill, which is currently awaiting the governor’s signature, would amend the Unfair Trade Practices Act to protect consumers from the creation of monopolies by prohibiting predatory pricing and allowing market competition, according to the legislation’s language.
Sen. Herb Snyder, D-Jefferson, said one of the driving factors of the bill was the price of gas in the Eastern Panhandle, specifically in Martinsburg.
“Oil marketers are the ones that have used and abused this area of law to sue each other to reduce competition in the market,” Snyder, a co-sponsor of the bill, said in a telephone interview. “The biggest change (to the law) is that you can now lower the price (of gasoline) to meet the competition.
Sen. Craig Blair, R-Berkeley, said this bill amending the old law will make it more difficult for competitors to create a lawsuit.
“In the old act, you didn’t have to prove damages. All you had to do is say you lost a certain amount, and that was in the statute,” Blair, the lead sponsor of the bill, said in a telephone interview. “That is all gone out of the statute now, and you have to be able to prove damages (because of lower prices).”
The cost of gasoline in Martinsburg at the beginning of this week was $1.99 per gallon, according to a press release from AAA East Central’s Fuel Gauge report, and the price of fuel last week was $1.88 per gallon.
Gas prices are on the rise due to increased fuel demand with the coming warmer weather and reduced production because of refinery maintenance, according to AAA.
Snyder said this bill is intended to help Martinsburg and other Eastern Panhandle gas stations compete with neighboring fuel markets across the border in Virginia and Maryland. Furthermore, Snyder said the bill will take time before results are seen.
“This is going to take a little while to kick in once the bill becomes effective in the next few months,” Snyder said. “After that, it’s up to the retailers to fix themselves. We’re allowing the free market to control what these prices will be, and that’s a very good thing.”
Blair said this bill is also meant to protect businesses that could be weakened by larger corporations.
“I want something that is honest and fair to the people, the consumers, and we believe that’s what we have with this legislation,” Blair said. “It will protect mom-and-pop businesses, too, from people who want to put them out of business.”
The newly amended law would make it unlawful for a retailer or wholesaler to sell or advertise a product for a price less than what is referred to as “cost” in order to destroy competition, according to the bill.
“Cost” as defined in the legislation is the invoice cost of an item to the retailer or the replacement cost within 30 days before the date, offer or advertisement of sale. Trade discounts will be deducted and freight charges, markups will be added to determine “cost.”
For more information on the bill, visit bit.ly/211c9XB.
Staff writer Emily Daniels can be reached at 304-263-8931, ext. 132, or twitter.com/emilykdaniels.
