Free Republic

Soaring gasoline prices are getting a rise out of many U.S. motorists, but by and large they're not getting in the way of summer vacations, commuting habits or SUV sales. What if gasoline prices, which have risen to $2.55 a gallon, keep climbing? Diana Amaro, of Denver, said that if gas reached $3 a gallon, she'd consider taking the bus. Ray Sykora, of Yuba City, Calif., said pump prices would have to exceed $4 a gallon before he hopped on public transportation. No matter how much motorists shake their heads in disgust at record pump prices, fuel consumption isn't expected...

Those numbers runners sure have been busy lately, haven't they? I'm referring to the guys whose job it is to change the big plastic pricing signs at gas stations. They seem to be out there every day, pulling down one price and posting one a few cents higher. It's like a Wal-Mart commercial in reverse.

The nation's oldest ladder manufacturer, family-owned John S. Tilley Ladders Co. of Watervliet, N.Y., near Albany, has filed for bankruptcy protection and sold off most of its assets. Founded in 1855, the Tilley firm was profitable until a few years ago but could not handle the cost of liability insurance, which had risen from 6 percent of sales a decade ago to 29.4 percent by the end, even though the company wasn't sued often and had never lost an actual court judgment. Jury awards in product liability cases have jumped from "an average of $1.7 million in 1994 to $6...

(SACRAMENTO) – Attorney General Bill Lockyer today unveiled data that show California oil refiners' price markup between the barrel and gas pump increased 152 percent from January 2003 to March 2003 – with virtually all of the rise representing profit – and in March 2003 outstripped the margin in the rest of the country by 127 percent. "Californians have been afflicted with chronically exorbitant gas prices," said Lockyer. "These numbers raise legitimate questions about whether this state's drivers and businesses are getting gouged. But the data also show how important it is, for consumers' sake, that policymakers address the deep-seated...

Residential gas bills will rise about 54 percent from a year ago starting Monday for Cincinnati Gas & Electric Co. customers. The unit of Cinergy Corp. said the typical residential customer will pay $115.50 a month, up from $75.04 last September for a residential customer using the average 10,800 cubic feet of gas. In Northern Kentucky, the same customer will pay $106.91 a month, up 45 percent from the $73.60 last September. The culprit? Higher natural gas costs, which typically represent about 70 percent of the monthly bill. Consumers such as Mike Rieck, a retiree who lives in North Avondale,...

Energy: Gasoline prices are soaring again, especially in the West. Is this another oil company "conspiracy" to jack up prices? Or is something else at work?You've probably seen the images on the evening news: long lines of frustrated drivers snaking out of Phoenix-area stations, sometimes waiting hours for a turn at the pump. You might also have seen pictures of gas station marquees in California, where prices topped $2 a gallon.The sights are all too common. The average pump price on the West Coast hit $1.89 last week, up 17.3 cents from the week before — the second-highest jump ever...

Linda Diane Tevis crashed into a parked 18-wheeler on a foggy February morning. Injured and shaken, she was in no condition to deal with a wrecker driver trying to tow her car. "I was a little delirious." she said. "The air bag had hit me. The next thing I know he was saying he was going to tow my car." All of this happened as paramedics treated her before she went to the hospital. When she and her husband, Mike Tevis, were faxed a copy of the Lone Star Towing Service bill a short time later, they got delirious again....

I did this type of post last year to see just what AMERICA is paying.In the South Bend area it ranges from $1.69 to $2.08

<p>In their last chance to sway federal regulators, California lawyers are mounting a final hunt for evidence showing how energy companies manipulated the state's electricity markets during the 2000-01 energy crisis.</p> <p>Attorneys for three state agencies and California's two largest utilities have deposed energy traders, reviewed power plant operations data and listened to companies' tape-recorded conversations in preparation for a final report on market manipulation to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.</p>

<p>California continues to build its claim that the state was unfairly gouged by power companies last year, but consumers paying record-high electricity rates shouldn't expect to see refund checks anytime soon.</p> <p>While Gov. Gray Davis loudly maintains the state is owed $8.9 billion by the nation's generators, experts say the final tally will be nowhere near that high even if California wins its case.</p>

<p>Sacramento -- In findings that could bolster California's case for energy refunds, federal investigators said Tuesday that natural gas prices may have been manipulated during the energy crisis and alleged that Enron Corp. and others gamed the state's power market.</p>

<p>Sacramento -- The chairman of a Senate committee investigating California's dysfunctional energy market says the Los Angeles public power system may have falsified documents to counter charges that it helped manipulated the market two years ago.</p> <p>The surprise allegation came during a hearing Tuesday in which another key player in the state's energy deregulation scheme -- Enron Corp. -- was accused of destroying electronic documents it gave to the committee.</p>

OUSTON, June 22 — The Enron Corporation used undisclosed reserves to keep as much as $1.5 billion in trading profits off its books during the California energy crisis, according to six former managers and executives who handled or reviewed the accounts.The enormous reserves, which would have doubled the company's reported profits, were hidden in late 2000 and early 2001, as energy prices soared in California and politicians accused trading companies like Enron of price gouging. The former Enron officials said that the company swelled the reserves in hopes of damping the political firestorm.Further, some former executives said, Enron manipulated...

<p>California Attorney General Bill Lockyer has sued eight more electricity suppliers, alleging they violated fair business practices by charging excessive rates for power.</p> <p>The lawsuits were filed late Thursday in San Francisco Superior Court against TransAlta Energy, Idaho Power, TransCanada Energy, Tucson Electric Power, BP, Portland (Ore.) General Electric, Merrill Lynch Capital Services and Puget Sound Energy.</p>