Gas prices have remained a bane in the existence of many in our community – myself included – and the rest of the nation. Arizonans rely heavily on cars to get us around from our jobs to the grocery store to our homes.
As the holiday weekend approaches, many of our travel plans will also likely rely on a car to get you to that lake getaway for Memorial Day weekend. Gas stations will be filled with drivers filling up their tanks, so we thought it’d be good to share a recent story about how customers have been overcharged at the pump in Arizona.
This week, I spoke with The Republic’s Data Reporter Kunle Falayi , who spent some time sorting through records detailing inspections of various gas stations across the state. He found that violations have increased in the last two years. We talked about what those violations include and a mapping tool he created so that our readers can find what stations have been flagged.
In your story, you analyzed state data from the Weights and Measures Services Division of Arizona regarding inspections of gas stations. Many of our readers, as well as myself, might have never heard of this state agency. Can you give us some insight into the kind of work the agency does and the kind of power they must protect consumers?
Kunle: The Weights and Measures Division is an agency under the Arizona Department of Agriculture authorized by law to inspect all commercial weighing and measuring devices in the state. The agency protects consumers from being cheated by retailers. By virtue of its mandate, the division inspects retailers across a wide range of businesses. From grocery stores to gas stations to moving companies. The agency has the power to randomly visit an establishment and conduct inspections or act upon a complaint from the public. It has the power to levy fines when violations are found.
What is meter creep?
The big claim in your story is about a 40% increase in violations recorded by inspectors in the last two years. Though you note that it is unclear how wide the issue of “meter creep” or “meter jump” is, they do account for a significant portion of the violations. What is “meter creep” and why is this such a big problem?
Kunle: Meter creep simply means that the meter at a gas pump continues to read upwards even when a buyer has stopped pumping gas. This leads to motorists being charged for more gas than their vehicles can take, or the quantity they punched in. The extra gas does not come out of the pump, but the meter reads like something is flowing. So, it is like paying for air. People are already paying a lot for gas at this time. I do not think it is fair for people to pay extra for nothing.
Why we offered you a map
Your story also has a map that our readers can use to find what gas stations around them have been issued violations. Why take the time to map out this data this way? How does this help our reader better understand your analysis?
Kunle: Just talking about the problem and identifying retailers that had the most violations do not really do justice to the problem. Readers want to know exactly where violations have been found and going by feedback I have gotten after the story was published, I think readers find that part of the story helpful. In my story, I included a table that even identifies which gas pump at each station was in violation. The map shows readers which of their neighborhood gas stations inspectors have found meter creep or jump. That helps them to be on the lookout when fueling their vehicles there. People probably just buy gas and do not pay attention to meter creep. Hopefully, they know it happens a lot more now and can lodge a complaint at the Weights and Measures Division if this happens to them.
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