Hot Gasoline Lawsuit? Not So Hot

December 10, 2006 – Vol. 11 No. 38

HOT GASOLINE LAWSUIT? NOT SO HOT.

Normally good consumer protection group Public Citizen, along with the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, has filed a complaint against a number of diesel and gasoline distributors claiming that gas stations don’t adjust prices at the pump to take into account changes in temperature. At high temperatures fuel volumetrically expands. People are getting less energy for their money: Pumps pump the same amount of fuel but there’s less energy in it. (It can shrink a bit if it cools off in the tank too.)

The standard for measuring fuel is set at 60 degrees F. Much of the country is hotter than that, especially in the summer. Consumers who buy hot fuel in the US may be losing as much as $2 billion a year, they say.

However, the complaint may be a little hollow from the net energy savings point-of-view. Driving in hot climates - where the hot fuel is sold - is more energy efficient.

In the words of General Motors:

“The climate in which you live has a big impact on your vehicle's fuel economy. Vehicles driven in warm climates can experience a 1-2 mpg fuel economy benefit, while cold climates with near-freezing temperatures can cost as much as 3 mpg.”

Whatever energy content drivers are overpaying for by purchasing warm, volumetrically expanded fuel, they are probably being well compensated for by the virtue of driving in a warm climate.

There would certainly be a cost attached to temperature adjusted fuel if the case wins in court. At what cost would that be to drivers nationwide?

Visit Public Citizen at http://www.citizen.org/