Senator Bernie Sanders wants a federal probe of gas prices in Chittenden County.
Sanders says the investigation is needed because gas prices in Chittenden County are considerably higher than in other parts of the state.
Sanders says a recent study shows that prices in the northwestern part of Vermont seem to falling very slowly.
"The fact of the matter is that of the 15 metro regions in New England, gas prices have fallen more slowly here in the Chittenden County area than in any other region," said Sanders. "Around New England it was 25 cents, in Chittenden County the decline was only 15 cents. So we have asked the FTC, the Federal Trade Commission, to take a look at this and tell us what is going on."
Sanders wants the Commission to determine if some gas dealers in Chittenden County are colluding to keep prices higher than they should be.
"What you’re supposed to have is competition and if you’re not having competition, if people are simply looking at what the other guy is charging and artificially in that sense keeping prices high that is not appropriate."
Sanders says there could be some plausible reasons to explain why gas prices in northwestern Vermont are so high and he says that’s another reason to have the FTC investigate this issue.