It’s no secret that filling up your gas tank in Princeton, B.C., can be a lot more expensive than in neighbouring communities.
According to GasBuddy, as of Thursday gas in Princeton was stickered at around $1.779, compared to Penticton which is around $1.629, Kelowna at $1.579 and Vernon at $1.599.
“It’s one of the hottest topics on our local Facebook page groups, too, talking about how the gas prices are so crazy here,” said Princeton resident Justin Bentley at the Petro Canada gas station.
“Many people in this town live paycheque to paycheque and they have to stop here. Yes, it is not a far drive to get for most to get to work, but $20 doesn’t go anywhere anymore especially at $1.779.”
Princeton gas prices are also higher than other communities across the province.
According to GasBuddy, communities like Abbotsford at $1.599, Vancouver at $1.729, Victoria at $1.749, and Prince George at $1.619 are all notably lower than Princeton.
“Our prices are the highest in the area, some of the highest in the province. We’re in the $1.789 range and the Okanagan is in the $1.60 range and Merritt was under $1.50 on Tuesday,” said Princeton Mayor Spencer Coyne.
“We’re well above everybody else and people here are getting frustrated and pretty sick of it, to be honest.”
Coyne went on to say that high gas prices have been an issue for years in town, and many residents will leave town to fill up and travellers will often bypass Princeton altogether.
“That’s a big concern because we had the summer was ups and downs with all the travel. If people know we’re higher, they’re going to avoid us,” said Coyne.
“I really want to see this change. But locals, I mean, somebody pointed out last night online, that if you’re buying 100 litres, it’s $25 compared difference between us in the Okanagan.”
The mayor recently wrote an open letter to the four major gas stations in town, Esso, Chevron, Husky and Petro Canada, to express his frustration and to demand answers as to why his municipality is paying more.
In the letter, Coyne says the situation in Princeton is ‘troublesome’ and ‘unacceptable’ and is urging each leading gas company to investigate into the matter and ‘take the necessary steps to rectify the inequity.’
“We’ve heard a lot of reasons over the years. One of the reasons I like to use is the transportation cost of Princeton. Our gas comes from Kamloops…. Osoyoos gas comes from Kamloops and they’re lower than us, and you can’t tell me that Osoyoos is any further away than Princeton to Kamloops. And Rock Creek as well — checked this morning and Rock Creek is lower than us,” said Coyne.
“They’ve got excuses, but they don’t make any sense. And it’s not carbon tax like some people are saying, it’s not because of the province, it’s not because of the federal government. This is something that’s been set by head office somewhere.”
Coyne has yet to receive an answer from any of the four companies. He adds that if needed, further action to bring attention to this issue may be taken.
“There’s people already talking about some sort of protest,” said Coyne.
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