Burlington, Vt. - Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders says some Burlington gas station owners are ,"ripping people off." He says gas profits in Burlington are nearly twice the national average.
Sanders says Burlington fuel distributors and gas stations were making a profit margin of almost 58 cents a gallon back in June.
"I don't know where he's getting his numbers," Burlington gas station owner Charlie Handy said.
Handy said he is only making 9 cents a gallon on gas right now.
The Joe Choquette from the Vermont Petroleum Association says that Sanders is referring to margins not profit.
The margin is the difference between what refiners sell gas for and the price you purchase it for at the pump. So, even if the margin is 58 cents, after fees and other expenses, distributors and gas stations may only see 20 or 10 cents of that as their profit.
"Bernie has called for an investigation and I guess we're all going to find out what the results of that are. We think that it's a competitive market. There are a lot of competitors in the Burlington area. Sometimes it takes prices a while to come back down so that they're in line with other surround areas. But eventually, they do," Choquette said.
