Best Solution: Gasoline Prices, Don’t Buy It

“Excessive profit margin” was the term used at Tuesday’s Committee of the Whole session to explain why gas costs on St. Thomas and St. John are near $5 a gallon while they hover closer to $4 a gallon on St. Croix.

Licensing and Consumer Affairs Commissioner Nathalie Hodge introduced the term in her testimony: “The lack of accessible data adds to the public’s distrust, leading to assumptions that higher prices result from excessive profit margins.”

Sen. Ray Fonseca indicated that he thought it was more than a suspicion; he said it was a fact, and he said it was apparent.

The price of a gallon of gas on St. Croix is about a dollar more than the average in the States. The cost is $2 above the stateside average on St. Thomas and St. John.