The Shadow
I just returned from a trip to Roanoke on November 3rd, 2023, and was monitoring the gas prices as I traveled. In the Covington area the lowest price I saw was $3.27 per gallon, using a credit card. Along the road to Roanoke, after leaving Cliftondale Park, gas was $3.19 per gallon and as low as $2.99 per gallon near I-81, using a credit card. This differential in gas prices has been going on for a number of years and I wish someone would explain to me why that differential exists!? Presumably, the gas station owners along the road to Roanoke are making a profit, so it makes one wonder how much profit the gas stations in the Covington area are making. Perhaps there is a logical explanation but I have a hard time understanding what that is. We have a lot of Senior Citizens in our area and others who are not able to drive to Roanoke. Those of us who do travel that road take advantage of the lower gas prices, but it seems to me that it would be in the interest of the Covington area gas stations not to lose those customers. I guess the station owners in the Covington area have to figure out their cost and profit margins, but it occurs to me that there may be some unjustified profit being made in the gas sale business in the Covington area. If someone out there has an explanation for the difference in gas prices, please write a letter to the media or to me about that, otherwise, I continue to be mystified at this price difference.
I plan to send a copy of this news release to Covington City Council, the Alleghany County Board of Supervisors, Delegate Terry Austin, and the Department of Consumer Affairs in Richmond, with the hope that they will look into the issue. The price difference of over $25 cents per gallon, in some cases, does not make sense to me.
William “Bill” T. Wilson
Covington, VA
