Lawmakers await
word on gas cap

PUC consultants are
due to recommend
new fuel price limits

Motorists should know by mid-April how much it will cost to fuel up their cars, trucks and sport utility vehicles under the state's one-of-a-kind gasoline price cap law.

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Whether the price goes down, as lawmakers intended, remains to be seen.

A consulting firm hired by the state Public Utilities Commission is gathering information needed to calculate the price cap and faces an April 15 deadline to issue its report, PUC Chairman Carlito Caliboso told lawmakers yesterday.

"If a cap is too high and maintains the status quo, I'm going to have a problem with it," said Senate Consumer Protection Co-chairman Ron Menor (D, Mililani).

The price cap is scheduled to begin Sept. 1.

The law requires the PUC to set a maximum pretax wholesale price at which gasoline can be sold in Hawaii based on the weekly average of spot prices in Los Angeles, New York and the U.S. Gulf Coast.

An additional 4 cents per gallon is added to account for increased fuel transport costs stemming from Hawaii's location, and retailers are allowed to add up to 18 cents per gallon to cover other costs.

Other charges to account for the added cost of providing gasoline on neighbor islands are being determined by the PUC and ICF Consulting of Fairfax, Va.

Menor said his research showed that if the price cap were in effect, motorists statewide could have saved between 20 cents and 30 cents per gallon from October to December.

"As is true with any other piece of legislation, the devil is still in the details," Menor said. "I will be awaiting the PUC's recommendation.

"I've already expressed my concerns that in setting the cap the intent is to moderate the profits that the oil industry has been earning, which I think have been excessive and contributed to high gasoline prices."

Menor and state Sen. Rosalyn Baker, Consumer Protection Committee co-chairwoman, said a major concern was whether oil companies would cooperate and provide information needed to calculate the cap.

"They don't have a really good record of being forthcoming," said Baker (D, Honokahau-Makena).

Caliboso said he did not expect any problems and noted that the law stipulates fines for noncompliance.

Gov. Linda Lingle has been a staunch opponent of a price cap and has introduced proposals in the House and Senate to try and have the law repealed. Menor said he would not schedule a hearing for any such bill in the Senate.

"I think that the issue has been thoroughly debated and discussed in previous sessions," he said. "The Legislature has made the determination that price relief is necessary."