Nor is there any evidence that any of these five states have lower gas prices as a result of divorcement regulations - in fact there is some evidence that prices are higher and level of service lower. In addition, I would like to echo something that a colleague stated in response to a question on divorcement at the first hearing on February 14. It might be a mistake to assume that the petroleum companies would automatically choose to divest themselves of their retail networks and keep the refineries. It could be quite the opposite. Retailers earn up to about one cent per litre on an investment of about two million dollars on average per site.
Refiners also earn up to about one cent per litre but on a multibillion-dollar investment.
Each company would make up its own mind. This is fairest to both consumers and the industry. As the task force heard in Bowmanville from an independent gas station operator, Automatic Temperature Compensation means that consumers buy their gas essentially by weight, rather than volume, and so get the same amount of energy for their money every single time they buy gas. The idea of an independent watchdog to investigate and explain changes in the price of gasoline has been suggested. Our industry would cooperate fully with such an agency or individual.