Gas prices normally peak during the summer then fall throughout the winter, as suppliers switch to a cheaper-to-make grade of gas and motorist demand slows.
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Bentley was briefed on the continuing response to the spill by officials with Colonial Pipeline, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Alabama Department of Environmental Management and Alabama Emergency Management Agency on Monday afternoon. Three raccoons and a rabbit were later found dead.
“We really did bypass the bullet”, said Myra Crawford, executive director of Cahaba Riverkeeper.
For one thing, the prices of unleaded gas has spiked in the southern states once supplied by the pipeline.
The order declares that an emergency exists and waives some federal weight, size and length limitations allowing larger trucks on the road to haul fuel.
McCrory also issued an executive order temporarily waiving hours of service restrictions for fuel vehicles traveling in and through North Carolina.
The governor said the state’s first priority continues to be ensuring that adequate fuel is available for first responders and emergency officials, according to the release.
“The freakout is what leads to all of the impulse buying”, Smith said. If prices rise, the effect could be felt the hardest in Tennessee, which is supplied by a spur off the leaky pipeline.
Several miles away, police guarded the entrance to a Colonial Pipeline terminal beside Interstate 65.
The Trucker’s Association says SC is fortunate to be able to get fuel from supplies at the Charleston Port, but it’s still going to take more time to go off route to do so and deliveries can be delayed because of that. As a result of the leak and downtime for the fix, Colonial Pipeline announced over the weekend that it would construct a temporary pipeline to bypass the section of the line that is damaged. The rupture was discovered September 9. It was Line 1 that had a leak, therefore the company stated it is now using Line 2 to transfer more gas than normal.
Townsend said Georgia, Tennessee and the Carolinas have seen the most significant impacts on fuel availability.
A sign on a gas station pump near Interstate 20 in Atlanta tells customers that fuel will be more expensive Saturday, Sept. 17, 2016, since the store had to get it from Savannah, Georgia after a pipeline spilled, causing shortages across the region.
Benchmark gasoline futures gained 9 percent in the week following the leak, although futures pared losses on Monday, falling 2 percent to $1.4318 a gallon. “Not even people who are more fortunate”, driver Murray Mills said.
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The Governor must specifically state that the prices for a service or product are subject to price control.
