The dramatic spike in gas prices from Hurricane Ike has prompted The Office of Consumer Affairs (OCA) to investigate hundreds of complaints of price gouging at the pump.
Officials have issued subpoenas for sales records of 25 gas stations statewide, and say more are on the way.
Bill Cloud, the director of administration and external affairs at the OCA says they've received over 700 complaints since Governor Sonny Perdue imposed an anti-gouging law last Friday.
But, Perdue says the skyrocketing numbers at the pump weren't only due to decisions by station owners :
"...[they] were the prices that some of the stations were having to pay up the line, and we're trying to investigate where that began and why, and what steps we should take – that probably would be outside of the purview of the State of Georgia, and while I’m a free-market guy, I certainly think it bears investigation by our federal government."Perdue says Valdosta and Augusta were having the worst problems statewide in getting fuel from refineries knocked out by last week's hurricane.
Perdue and OCA officials, though, say the situation is improving and expect supply to be back to normal next week.
Click here for more GPB News coverage of the gas crisis, and here for more on Hurricane Ike.
