WPRO News

Rhode Island’s Attorney General is asking the public to show him any potential cases of gasoline price gouging in the wake of the surge in prices for gasoline and heating oil, and the Massachusetts secretary of state is calling on that state’s attorney general to investigate the soaring price at the pump.

Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha told WPRO’s Tara Granahan Wednesday that he is asking his fellow state attorneys general about looking into possible collusion or price gouging.

“Can we, as attorneys general, as a group or subset of AG’s take a look at the broader market and see whether that market is being driven in a particular way based on something other than … the typical flow, you know, back and forth flow of capital markets,” Neronha asked.

He asked the public to contact his office if they suspect wrongdoing.

“If you see that scenario, where one gas station is charging significantly more than another or those in that particular area or across the state, you know, if they’re outliers, then we want to know about that,” said Neronha.

Gas prices in Rhode Island rose 58 cents last week to a record, averaging $4.17 per gallon, according to AAA Southern New England.

In Massachusetts, Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin has asked state Attorney General Maura Healey’s office to investigate whether state consumer protection laws are being violated. Healey’s office in a statement says it has received several complaints about possible price gouging and is monitoring the situation. The head of a gas station industry trade group denied that there was price gouging going on.

Material from the Associated Press was used in this report