Sen.Sanders calls for federal investigation into high Vermont gas prices (Burlington Free Press)

July 3, 2012

By Sam Hemingway

Vermont gas prices, particularly in the Burlington area, remain higher than anywhere else in New England, and that has Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., calling for a federal investigation to find out why.

“Gas prices are going down all over the state, but they’re going down less in Vermont than in other states,” Sanders said in an interview with the Burlington Free Press.

The difference in prices between Vermont and other New England states was even greater for consumers in Chittenden, Franklin and Grand Isle counties, Sanders said. The gas-pricing disparity was detailed in a story in Saturday’s Burlington Free Press.

“I request that the Oil and Gas Price Fraud Working Group and the Federal Trade Commission conduct a formal investigation to explore the cause of these unusually high prices in Chittenden, Grand Isle and Franklin counties,” Sanders wrote in a letter Monday to Attorney General Eric Holder and Federal Trade Commission Chairman Jon Leibowitz.

Late Monday, Sanders’ aide Dan McLean said Leibowitz had spoken to the senator by telephone and had promised to let Sanders know soon how the investigation would proceed.

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