Selling Low Priced Ethanol Blend in Wisconsin is Risky
Posted: September 6, 2007
An interesting story came out at the end of last week on TheNorthwestern.com. Apparently some gas stations (42 of them) are upset with an ethanol production company (Utica Energy, LLC) for selling fuel below the state’s strange minimum markup law. They’ve filed a lawsuit for $12 million dollars against the company and it’s retailer, Renew E-85. Now all this “under the price law” selling took place apparently at a 2-pump station. How that had a $12 million impact on other gas stations seems a mystery to me.
The story says:
According to court records, the gas station owners claim Renew’s two-pump station on Lineville Road in Green Bay sold fuel below the minimum price allowed under the state’s Unfair Sales Act, also referred to as the minimum mark-up law, for 143 days straight from Aug. 12, 2006, to Jan. 1, 2007. Based on unspecified injuries, each station owner asked the court to order Utica Energy and Renew to pay each station a total of $2,000-per-day per-violation, or $286,000.
At the least that sounds a little excessive wouldn’t you think? The story quotes Utica and Renew attorney Bruce Bauer. “He argues in a response to the gas station’s lawsuit that the gas station’s claims are more about the threat ethanol producers pose to “big oil” than anything else, saying the stations “ganged up” on Renew and Utica.
“The obvious goal is to put not just that station, but Renew itself, out of business,” a March 29 filing reads.”