Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard and several state lawmakers, mostly Democrats, are looking into anti-price gouging legislation in the wake of the recent gasoline shortages in the Phoenix metropolitan area.

Arizona doesn’t have an anti-gouging law on the books, but Mr. Goddard said he has drafted legislation after receiving more than 600 complaints the week of Aug. 18 from consumers angry about gasoline prices soaring to nearly $3 a gallon. Although he couldn’t confirm it, Mr. Goddard said during a news conference Aug. 25 that there were reports of some retailers charging as much as $4.97 a gallon for gasoline.

Prices in the Phoenix area rose about 56 cents a gallon to an average of $2.09 a gallon between Aug. 7 and Aug. 25, according to the American Automobile Association’s “Daily Fuel Gauge Report.” Prices in Flagstaff, Tucson and Yuma rose 17.6 cents, 25.3 cents and 37.5 cents, respectively, in the same period. Nationally prices increased an average of 12.2 cents a gallon.

While some retailers were raising prices in response to the increase in wholesale prices caused by a break in one of the two pipelines that carry most of the gasoline to the Phoenix metro area, others were clearly “engaging in activity that would be illegal if we had an anti-gouging law on the books,” Mr. Goddard said.

The attorney general declined to release the specifics of the proposed bill, saying that he wants the flexibility to work with lawmakers who ultimately will have to get the legislation to the governor’s desk. Governor Napolitano has said she will consider signing anti-price gouging legislation should lawmakers send a bill to her.

Mr. Goddard said he isn’t proposing that the state set gasoline prices, but instead should set a reasonable margin — around 25 to 30 per cent — between wholesale prices and retail prices. When wholesale prices go up, retailers will be able to increase their prices accordingly, Mr. Goddard said.

And while the shortage of gasoline sparked the legislative proposal, it will cover a number of “necessities,” Mr. Goddard said, not just fuel. Again, Mr. Goddard declined to identify specific commodities that might be subject to the anti-gouging legislation, but he did say that water would be one of them.

Limited Support

A number of Democratic lawmakers showed up at Mr. Goddard’s news conference to support anti-gouging legislation. House Minority Leader John Loredo, D-Dist. 13, acknowledged any such legislation will have a tough time getting past the Republican majorities in the House and Senate.

“There is a shortage of gas right now, but you can bet there won’t be any shortage of high-priced lobbyists to try to block this,” Mr. Loredo said. He said the legislation will have the best chance of passage by “setting the bar pretty high” on what would be considered price gouging.

Republican Sen. Slade Mead of District 20 also appeared at Mr. Goddard’s news conference, saying that he thinks most retailers were raising prices only in response to the limited supply. But he said he was concerned about how some retailers acted, by removing the prices posted on signs or requiring motorists to buy a car wash as a condition for buying gasoline.

Senate President Ken Bennett, R-Dist. 1, said he thinks true gouging was relatively rare during the gasoline shortage, but that consumers can best curb gouging by looking for the best price at the pump. —