CLT Gas Prices Rise As Pumps Run Dry
Colonial Pipeline Leak Causing Shortage
CHARLOTTE, NC — A pipeline leak in Alabama is causing a gas shortage at fuel stations in Charlotte and across parts of the Southeast.
North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper issued two subpoenas Monday for allegations of price gouging. Both were in Guilford County.
To read more about that case, click here.
Cooper says one gas station was charging 50 $4.50 a gallon. WCCB Charlotte checked and Monday evening, and the average for regular unleaded in the Charlotte area was $2.19 a gallon.
That’s up 16 cents in the past week.
Drivers statewide are paying about $2.16.
The average price in South Carolina is $2.04. Drivers are dodging out of order signs across Charlotte as pumps go dry and prices rise.
“Yeah. You just don’t know how long it’s going to take for them to replace it,” said Tim Monnin.
Colonial Pipeline Company told WCCB Charlotte Monday that gasoline is flowing through at least one of its pipelines to
its distribution point in the Paw Creek area known by locals as Tank Town.
A spokesperson says The Colonial leak earlier this month in Alabama spilled up to 8,000 barrels of fuel but says gasoline is en route to the tanks in Charlotte.
With fuel coming in, distributors are struggling to keep up with gas station demands.
A manager at a Citgo on Woodlawn and Park Rd. Montford says it could be another week before they get gas.
“That’s why I stopped, you know?” said Gavin Chafin. “It’s not that I needed it. I will tell my wife to get some on her way home.”
AAA says you could see prices climb up to 15 cents overnight.
“We speculate that this is going to be very temporary,” said AAA Spokesperson Tiffany Wright.
Wright says it’s nervous drivers rushing to gas up that’s part of the problem.
“That nervousness is actually what’s creating some of the shortages we’re seeing around the Carolinas,” said Wright.
Gov. Pat McCrory is asking state agencies to consider options to limit fuel use, including cutting back on non-essential travel.
South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley signed an order waiving some federal weight regulations to allow larger trucks to haul fuel.
