Nova Scotia spending $1M to study gas price regulation
Plan is to install 'black boxes' at every gas retailer to monitor every pump in N.S.
Nova Scotia's Liberal government says it remains firmly against the regulation of gasoline in the province, but it plans to spend more than $1 million getting the information it needs to determine whether that's really the case.
Nova Scotia is among five provinces — including Newfoundland and Labrador, P.E.I., New Brunswick and Quebec — that currently regulate gasoline prices.
The money for the study will come from a fee already charged at the pumps, so it will have no impact on prices.
The plan is to install "black boxes" at every gas retailer to monitor every pump in the province.
It will tell them how much gasoline is being sold, what grade, and at what price.
Service Nova Scotia Minister Mark Furey says it's data that has been hard to get to date.
Although Furey refused to say his party's position on gas regulation had shifted, his boss acknowledged a change.
"We're not going to go out and attempt to solve a problem that consumers are telling us they don't have anymore," said Premier Stephen McNeil.
Regulation better for stability, group argues
In 2006, after Nova Scotia started regulating the price of gasoline, the Liberals said regulations weren't working and pledged to get rid of the system if they formed a government.
"I think if you go back to 2006, there was a very different environment," McNeil told reporters on Thursday.
The change in policy is being applauded by the association that represents about 220 independent gas retailers in the province.
Graham Conrad, the executive director of the Retail Gasoline Dealers Association, said regulations are working.
He said the weekly price setting has reduced price volatility and led to a dramatic reduction in the number of service stations forced out of business.
"Right now there's less than 400 retail outlets in the province. At one point in time there were 1,900," he said.
Conrad said drivers like the system, too.
"The feedback that we receive from the motoring public is that in terms of stability, in terms of predictability, in terms of understanding how prices are set, this system that we have right now does all that," he said.