B.C. utilities commission given power to seek more clarity around gas pricing

The B.C. Energy Ministry says the province's utilities regulator now has the ability to make special requests for information from oil and gas companies in a bid to increase transparency in fuel prices.

The ministry said in a news release, that beginning Monday, the B.C. Utilities Commission can make these special requests under the Fuel Price Transparency Act.

The utilities commission can collect information including refined fuel imports and exports, fuel volumes at refineries and terminals, and wholesale and retail prices.

Bruce Ralston, minister of energy, mines and petroleum resources, says this gives the utilities commission the power to hold these companies accountable.

"British Columbians are tired of feeling gouged at the pump. It's time to pull back the curtain on fuel pricing," Ralston said in a release.

Months-long inquiry

The Act was passed at the end of 2019 after a months-long inquiry into B.C gas prices, prompted when gas prices took a sudden and dramatic increase last spring. 

The inquiry looked at different factors that could have affected prices at the pump since 2015. It found a lack of competition and substantial markups in the market, including a 10- to 13-cent-per-litre premium that industry was unable to explain. The province says the unexplained premium led to British Columbians paying an extra $490 million every year.

In the meantime, a global price war around the crude oil is set to plunge the price of gasoline across the country by roughly seven cents a litre on Wednesday.