While we were in the Binghamton area last week, my wife and I noticed that the price of gas was $3.76 per gallon. On our way back to Montrose, the price of gas at a Pennsylvania station located very close to the New York border was $3.74. Thinking that the price of gas was finally going down, we found to our surprise that the price of gas in Montrose was and still is $3.79 per gallon.

On one occasion, I had asked a representative of a gas station owner why his station had higher prices than “down da valley”, and was told that Montrose stations had the same overhead as the other stations, but Montrose had lower traffic volume and sold less gas, thus the higher prices.

We know that the gas tax is still higher in New York than Pennsylvania. (PA is catching up)

We know that the gas station on the PA-NY border is a popular spot for NY car owners.(Cheaper than NY but usually a few pennies higher than Montrose.)

We know that competition is a good thing for consumers.

Competition for Cable Companies in Montrose would be great - but, that question is for others at a later time.

Why are Montrose gas prices first to rise and last to fall?

Why are the Montrose gas prices at the various stations exactly the same? Does the same company deliver gas to the various stations?

Why were NY gas prices lower than the gas prices in Montrose?

Why do rumors persist that the price of gas in Montrose is controlled by one company?

I am asking these question because I do not know the answers and neither do my uninformed friends.

Sincerely,

C. Robert Orner

Montrose, PA