AG goes after gasoline price gougers

From The Politicker:

As several gas station owners are about to learn, it’s against New York State law to jack up the price of goods like fuel after a hurricane. To wit, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced he is bringing his “first series of enforcement actions” against price gougers in the wake of Superstorm Sandy.

“Today’s action is the first in a series of steps my office will take as we continue to actively investigate the hundreds of complaints we’ve received from consumers of businesses preying on victims of Hurricane Sandy,” the attorney general said in a statement. “We will do everything we can to stop unscrupulous individuals from taking advantage of New Yorkers trying to rebuild their lives.”

Although the law doesn’t specifically cite an illegal price for gasoline, it does prohibit an “unconscionably excessive price” during an “abnormal disruption of the market,” according to Mr. Schneiderman’s office. In addition to “war” and “military action,” the law names “weather events” as a triggering event that would restrict such sharp price increases. A fatal storm that left much of the city without gas would certainly seem to qualify.