Oil Watchdog

Santa Monica, CA — A majority of the group that decides national
weights and measures regulations voted today to fix the "hot fuel"
ripoff of motorists, agreeing that gasoline sales should be adjusted
for temperature in order to be fair to consumers. However, the vote was
a few short of an absolute majority because of deliberate abstentions,
meaning that despite the weight of expert opinion no action was taken.
Congress and the states must now act to require temperature-adjusted
gasoline at the pump, said the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer
Rights.

California weights and measures officials at the meeting
indicated that they favor direct state action, said a story today in
the Kansas City Star. An L.A. County official reportedly also told the
group that the county’s drivers alone may be losing the energy
equivalent of 40 million gallons of gasoline a year, according to a
continuing survey of gasoline temperatures. At current prices, that
amounts to a $160 million dollar annual loss to consumers in a single
large county.

"The issue is not just whether most motorists can afford the
$100 or so a year that hot fuel costs them as individuals, but whether
gasoline is sold honestly," said Judy Dugan, research director of
OilWatchdog.org and the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights.
"If you saw your grocer behind the counter with his thumb on the scale,
would you shop at that store again? Unfortunately, we don’t have the
choice with gasoline. It’s up to our elected officials to fix it."

Congress tried to punt a fix for ‘hot fuel’ to the NCWM. The
group, after months of pressure from the oil industry, has punted it
back, said FTCR. Federal and state elected officials should now pass
straightforward legislation making gasoline sales honest all the way to
the gas pump.

"There is no reason to allow refiners, distributors and
retailers to use one measure of a gallon for themselves, and a lesser
measure for consumers," said Dugan.

Gasoline prices are rising nationally and especially in the
Midwest, in response to higher oil prices and refinery outages, which
means the cost of hot fuel will also grow.

There were two votes by the NCWM’s "lower and upper" bodies,
with similar results. One voted 23-16 in favor of voluntary temperature
compensation and the other voted 24-16 in favor. However, both were
short of the required absolute majority of 27 because of abstentions.
NCWM representatives from California and Midwestern and Southern states
argued strongly for retail sale of gasoline to be adjusted for
temperature. A letter from several members of Congress also urged the
NCWM to act, after House committee hearings on the national cost of
"hot fuel." (For information on the letter from Congress, see: https://oilwatchdog.org/articles/?storyId=5880)

The NCWM is a voluntary organization with about 2,400 members,
according to its web site. Its membership is described as industry
representatives and state weights-and-measures officials. The NCWM’s
decisions, governing weights and measures right down to supermarket
scales and gasoline pumps, are usually followed to the letter by the
National Institute of Standards and Technology. Yet there is no formal
representation for consumers in the organization’s leadership, noted
FTCR. The chairman of the NCWM, Michael Cleary, told the Star yesterday
that he would be disappointed by a lack of action, because a fix for
hot fuel was going to be a "reality in the marketplace whether we like
it or not."

"The NCWM, which usually operates without any public attention,
was in a spotlight this year because of ‘hot fuel,’" said Dugan. "That
is probably what pushed the group to at least take its first-ever vote
on the issue. It’s disheartening that a wide majority of voters at the
NCWM favored temperature adjustment of gasoline in the name of
fairness, but the action failed nonetheless. Now it’s up to lawmakers,
who are elected to take the heat and do what’s right."

A U.S. company, Gilbarco Veeder-Root, already manufactures
gasoline nozzles that adjust the volume of gasoline going into the
vehicle. The nozzles add a little extra to each gallon when its
temperature is above the current ‘industry standard’ of 60 degrees, and
a little less for gasoline below that temperature. In Canada, about 95%
of gasoline is sold temperature-adjusted. That’s because in colder
climes, the consumer could benefit from cooler gasoline, so Canadian
refiners and distributors demanded, and received, temperature
regulation, said FTCR. Gilbarco briefly offered to sell its
temperature-adjusting nozzles in California, but backed off in the face
of industry disapproval. (See https://consumerwatchdog.org/energy/pr/?postId=7453)

Here’s a recap of how it works: Gasoline, like any liquid,
expands as it gets warmer. Warmer gas provides less energy per gallon,
about a 1% loss for every 30 degrees. At every part of the sales chain
except the retail pump, prices are adjusted to a standard of 60
degrees. Refiners provide extra gallons to distributors, who provide
extra gallons to gas stations, to make up for heat expansion. But when
motorists buy gasoline, it’s not adjusted. If gasoline is 80 degrees,
which is common in a warm state like California, the energy loss is
worth about 2 cents a gallon, or 50 cents a fill-up on a 25-gallon
tank. That’s about $100 per year for car owners, according to studies
by a large truck drivers’ organization, OOIDA, that is supporting
lawsuits against "hot fuel" sales. (For more background, see original
report from the Kansas City Star at: https://consumerwatchdog.org/energy/nw/?postId=6759)

For additional information on "hot fuel," go to www.OilWatchdog.org and type "hot fuel" into search area.

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