Washington, D.C. — The United State House of Representatives passed a bill to combat price gouging by gas companies. The bill, HR 7688, known as The Consumer Fuel Price Gouging Prevention Act would give the President the power to issue an Energy Emergency Declaration that would make it unlawful to increase gasoline and home energy fuel prices in an excessive or exploitative manner. And would give the FTC more tools to crack down on price gouging to protect consumers. The FTC will be able to issue penalties and will prioritize enforcement action on large gas and oil companies.
“Oil companies are not struggling—they continue to announce record profits and tens of billions dollars’ worth of stock buybacks—but families are,” said Rep. Porter, Chair of the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Oversight and a sponsor of the bill. “Big Oil is price gouging families because they can. Enough is enough. I’m proud to help introduce this bill that will hold these corporations accountable, stop their abuse, and give families relief.”
The bill passed the House by a margin of 217-207 and now heads to the U.S. Senate for consideration.
