State agency: Some gas pumps may be shorting customers

PHOENIX - Pretty much everyone thinks they're paying too much for gasoline.

But some people are getting ripped off more than others.

The state Department of Weights and Measures found that one gas pump out of every 50 checked last fiscal year was shorting customers. That includes not just pumps which are improperly calibrated and delivering less gasoline than promised. It also includes pumps where the numbers keep rolling up even after you've shut them off.

How many Arizonans are paying too much is not clear.

The state inspected only about one out of every four of the more than 66,000 gas and diesel pumps. That failure rate of more than 1.9 percent translates out to close to 1,300 pumps that are delivering less than promised.

Sen. Richard Miranda, D-Phoenix, wants to give the state agency more money to be able to inspect more pumps more often.

Agency spokesman Steve Meissner said the current goal is to inspect 20,000 pumps this year. But Miranda said that still averages out to less than one inspection every three years.

He said a check of 24 states found that only Texas had a longer lag between inspections. By contrast, he said, Missouri and Oklahoma inspect at least every six months, with annual inspections in several states including Idaho, Illinois, New York, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Of the shortages, the most frequent is pumps that don't deliver what the gauge reads.

Meissner said his agency allows for a variance of about 3.3 ounces out of every gallon - 128 ounces - about a teaspoon. But the agency found 144 pumps that shorted consumers more than that.

A list provided by the agency found two stations, both just off of major interstate highways, where 11 pumps were shorting customers: Love's in Gila Bend and the Pilot Travel Center in Eloy.

But state inspectors also found shortages at some convenience stores, branded gasoline stations and independent dealers. Small shortages add up.

A pump that shorts each gallon by twice the allowable amount ends up delivering about 19 ounces less than promised in a 15-gallon tank. A motorist who fills up once a week ends up losing more than 8 gallons over the course of a year, or, at current prices, about $35.

But that isn't the only problem.

State officials found also "meter creep,'' where the numbers on the pump keep going even after the flow has shut off. And there also are incidents of "meter jump,'' where a dollar figure shows even before the pump is put into the vehicle.

Not everyone who pulls up to an inaccurate gasoline pump is going to get shorted: The agency found 237 pumps during its inspections that actually delivered more.

Miranda said he will push to increase the budget for Weights and Measures to allow for more inspections. But at this point that will happen without the agency's cooperation.

"We're supporting the governor's budget,'' said Meissner, a budget that does not include additional funding for more inspections.

The other change Miranda is pushing is to increase fines.

A pump which shorts customers costs the owner $300; if the amount of shortage is at least twice as much as permitted, that rises to $500.

But Miranda said that provides little incentive for station owners to keep the pumps accurate, as having someone come out to calibrate can run $700.

Meissner said higher fines might be a "useful tool'' but his agency is taking no position on that proposal.