Times call for tough regulation at gas pump

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Based on initial investigation, Nebraska has a problem with gas stations trying to cheat customers.

That won’t sit well with consumers whose nerves are raw from paying the highest prices for gasoline in history.

The state may need to upgrade inspection and enforcement on a long-term basis.

State officials said they started checking about three or four weeks ago to see if ethanol blends were being sold as more expensive mid-grade regular.

They have been finding three or four stations a week trying to cheat customers, according to Steve Malone, administrator of the Nebraska Department of Weights and Measures.

No charges have been filed. The identity of the stations still has not been disclosed.

Other states are beginning to detect similar cases of fraud. A Michigan gas station was fined $2,740 last month, and the firm that supplied the gasoline was fined $12,911. The fraud was detected only when a former employee turned the station into authorities.

Nebraska stopped routine sampling to check whether grades of gasoline were properly labeled about a decade ago when an incentive to sell ethanol blends was phased out.

Since then, they have checked to see if grades are properly labeled only when a consumer turned in a complaint. That happened about once a year.

Ethanol blends routinely sell for about a dime less than regular. A person who fills a 15-gallon tank of gas every week would lose $78 over the course of a year.

Because ethanol blends have about 3.5 percent less energy, the person also would drive about 12 fewer miles per tank than they would with regular. Over the course of a year, that adds up to 624 miles.

Nebraska has 11 inspectors that check every gasoline pump in Nebraska annually, according to Bobbie Kriz-Wickham, spokesman for weights and measures department.

It’s possible that state officials initially were reticent about divulging information about the ongoing investigation because they were trying to determine how widespread mislabeling was in the state and whether particular retail chains showed a pattern of abuse.

But now that they have revealed that inspectors are checking fuel blends, there’s little to be gained by further foot-dragging. Officials should speed prosecution and release information more quickly to identify stations where inspectors have found violations.

Officials in the weights and measures department should be congratulated for taking the initiative to check the accuracy of pump labels. It looks as if they may need to start making those checks on a routine basis. These days, every nickel and dime counts at the gas pump.