Phase 1 Submissions

Canadian Fuels Association - 2023-02-10
C-Gas Management - 2023-02-10
CICC - 2023-02-10
Harveys Oil - 2023-02-10
Imperial Oil - 2023-02-23
NDP Caucus - 2023-02-10
North Atlantic - 2023-02-10
OHANL - 2023-02-10

Phase 1 Comments

Comment
Initial  Public Utilties Board 2022-2023 Petroleum Products Pricing Review
Phase 1  Comments Received
1 RH Is the PUB viable, enough to continue or not...
2 MP Would like to participate with comments. I cannot see why we have these surprise price adjustments. Doesn't anyone know if gas prices are going up or down and there should be some fair warning. Any why multiple times per week. Do it once per week, regardless if prices are going up or down. This current system in place makes no sense.
3 JB Since I live outside St. John's, I can only give submissions in writing. Unfortunately, I won't be able to do any presentations during all three phases.

However, I do have one suggest for future fuel price setting, separate retail and wholesale margins as opposed to combining them like Newfoundland and Labrador's Public Utilities Board does now. In other provinces, such as Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, wholesale and retail margins are not combined, but they're separated.For example, in Nova Scotia, their regulatory body, the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board, has a separate mandatory wholesale margin of 9.65 cents per litre for gasoline and 10.65 cents per litre for diesel. After the wholesale margin, transportation margin, excise taxes, and carbon levies are added to the New York Harbour price, the wholesale setting price is set.

The retail margin of 5.4 cents and 7.4 cents per litre is added.
After the retail margin is added to the whole price, taxes are added to get the minimum and maximum prices per litre.
For Newfoundland and Labrador, the wholesale margin should be set to 10 cents a litre.
After the wholesale price is determined, which is New York Harbour Price, Wholesale Margin, Carbon Tax, Zone Differential, and provincial and federal fuel excise taxes are combined, the wholesale setting price is determined.
Then the retail margin is set. The minimum markup should be no higher than 5 cents a litre, and maximum no higher than 15 cents a litre.
Once the wholesale setting price, retail margin, and taxes are added, the minimum and maximum prices are set.
Like Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador should also set a minimum and maximum price so that retailers have more clarity.
4 KL Very interested in the process and why we change fuel prices so often
5 VS I believe the board is a good idea, but the petroleum producers have found loop holes to increase price prematurely. This needs to be looked at.
6 KL Costs are too high
7 RP I think theres a lot of price gouging going on and its time to put a stop to it now,I don't think the PUB is doing its job, its only doing what this Liberal Government tells them to do,when gas and diesel go down all over Canada and it increases in NL i think theres something wrong with this system,my opinion its time to get rid of the trash.
8 HC PUB is no longer working for the public. Prices change sporadically now instead of once a week with no prior knowledge given to the public about the price increasing the following day. Prices are ridiculously high but people in this province have to buy it anyway unfortunately because you can't get around this island without a car.
9 ML I feel there is too much secrecy when it comes to adjusting the price of the fuel. For some reason the PUB feels it is required to keep it a secret if the price of fuel is going to be adjusted on the following day. I do not understand this. Supermarkets put flyers out showing their weekly specials sometimes 2 or 3 days in advance. They let their customers know that items will be on sale so the consumer has the choice to purchase now or wait for a different price. The PUB was created to protect the public. I feel the current release of pricing is done to protect the private corporations and not the general public. Once the PUB makes a decision on pricing, I think it should be made known to everyone at that time. Protect the public and let them make their purchasing decisions.
10 DH I'm not sure if this is working, I have been looking forward to getting away from the fuel price gouging of Ontario, and have the prices change 3 or more times a day. Newfoundland was always nice to know the price only changed on Thursday
11 NM The current state of the PUB, specifically with reference to the now common practice of updating prices outside the weekly norm, is a method of price control that favors the industry over consumers. What reason is there for changing the price of the fuel that a given station already has in its tanks, other than higher profits? If the fuels industry is allowed to change prices on a near daily basis, and the PUB is placing no restraints on how often they may do this, then the PUB has no actual purpose beyond job creation. If a regulatory body fails to regulate in the interests of the populace, and instead starts favoring the industry, it has lost its way and should be replaced.
12 HP Dismantle the PUB and save the tax payers dollars.
13 RMC Considering fuel commodities are a long term market item, is there really any value with ad hoc changes to fuel pricing due to interruption formula? As there is regular pricing updates based on averages, any hour by hour or day to day volatility will be included in the average over the weekly period. Eliminating the ad hoc updates will reduce admin burden and provide more certainty to the public and business alike.....any gaps will be covered in the weekly averages and updates.
14 JPM PUB should be citizen run. No politicians cozy with the industry. No industry insiders should be allowed to have a say. Thats like letting the fox guard the henhouse. Would you like a mobster on trial for racketeering to have a jury made up of made men? No, you wouldn't. So why would you allow anyone from Irving or Suncor to have a say in the price of fuel, knowing full well they are only motivated by money?

I have serious concerns with the integrity of the PUB.

Furthermore, there are serious irregularities with the price of fuel. I've seen days where a barrel of oil dips, but the price at the pump rises. Whatup with that?

Finally, this board should be able to exert the same pressure on politicians that Oil companies do. Starting with fuel taxes. We got record fuel costs, and Prince Justin gets a kickback from the carbon tax, and so does the corrupt honorable Premier Furey in his provincial fuel tax. If the PUB cant pressure these clowns to cut the taxes, the only thing the PUB is good for is a jobs program for the corrupt politicians to install their toadies.

Seriously, If you can't bring the price of utilities down, then what good are you? I'd sooner dismantle the PUB than turn on the radio on a Monday to hear about "emergency price adjustments" in favour of Esso and Irving. Thursday was supposed to be price day, not anytime you effing want. Have some consistency and some integrity for god's sake!
15 TW Having the PUB spokesperson share some rationale or reasoning everytime significant price changes happen would show some transparency. The Board is literally hid away and not accountable to the NL public as its name suggests.
16 DWT I firmly believe that the PUB in NL actually serves no 'real' purpose in today's market, considering the fact that anyone can go on-line and follow the current trends regarding the market prices. Dan McTeague, is absolutely correct on this one as well. I think it is past time to abolish the PUB and redirect the salaries/bonuses etc. currently being paid to Commissioners (in excess of $750,000) to something a little more worthwhile and necessary, for example, affordable housing for seniors/elderly/homeless individuals and pretty much anything 'other' than propping up salaries of Lawyers and Engineers with such an outdated fiasco. I believe this money could/should be better spent.
17 JAK My complaint is not with the way petroleum products are priced but the frequency at which the petroleum prices change.  How is it that the price of home heating oil can change (increase) in three consecutive days!   There should be a minimum time period measured in days to allow residents to purchase petroleum products.  I personally feel that a price adjustment every seven day is reasonable.
18 AJK Many people believe that fuel regulations for the province are not working. Most people I talk to have no faith in its workings and believe it does nothing for the general public. Therefore, it's believed that pricing would be much better without the PUB. This means that the markets will determine the prices and the public will be better served through competition. There shouldn't be any reason why NL. has the highest prices in Canada. I decided on Jan. 7,2023 to check the prices of every province in the country. I was amazed to learn that on that day NL., by far, had the highest prices for gas. eg. Ontario prices were lower by over 40 cents per lt. than NL. Alberta's were 50 cents lower than NL. Also, BC. normanly , has the highest, but at that particular time it was 15 cents per lt. cheaper than NL. The PUB may say that without regulation the smaller towns in the province may see an unwarranted increase. I don't buy this argument as if any community only has one station, then a couple of km. up the road will fulfill their needs. Competition there will also be a factor in lowering prices. In closing, the system we have now is not working in favour of the consumer. In this regard, something needs to be done by the province in order to correct this real problem so that we can enjoy a fair price for our dollar. I don't exspect for us to compete with Ontario and Alberta, but there shouldn't be such a hugh gap between those provinces and NL. I'm sure the people of this province will not be satisified until some changes are made to correct this out of control problem. Thanks.
19 JM I have several points to make regarding the current system of price fixing for petroleum products.

1.  The current system is BROKEN! This week is an obvious example, Tuesday you dropped the gas price by 7+ cents. Today,   you increased it by2+ cents per liter. This has happened by all to frequently in this past year.

2. Give consumers advanced warning, especially when there is a considerable change in the product. I recognize that the concept was to adjust the price at the  end of the business day (midnight). However, with the considerable changes over the past year, it would be more considerate to the consumer to release these changes at perhaps 6 pm. Fuel prices have had a serious hit on inflation. Everyone needs fuel to get to work, get groceries, literally in a rural province, everything we do. George Murphy use to give us a heads up, not Coast 101 provide this, so it is no great secret. Corporate profits are very healthy at this point.

You have other provinces to evaluate in this process, overall the system has worked reasonably well with the exception of the items noted above