After the Virginia governor declared a state of emergency, a Richmond gas station charged customers $6.99 a gallon.
According to WTVR, Lether Kerney pulled up to a BP gas station on Williamsburg road, said, “It was a lot of people there; no one looked at the price.”
“I had half a tank of gas, so when it got to $25, I started looking to see what was going on. And after I got to $30, I was like, ‘oh my God! I spent $35.45 to fill up my tank. Six gallons of gas for $35. That’s absolutely ridiculous,’” she continued.
Kerney said she did not realize the station was charging $5.99 a gallon when she arrived and began filling up.
A resident named Cha Cha watched the price go up; she filled her tank for $2.99 per gallon.
“Came home, got the gas cans, literally in that span of time and I live two blocks from here, and it was $4.99,” she recalled, adding, “So then I drove up the road to get gas at a $2.99 gas station, came back through here, it was $5.99. And now it’s $6.59.”
According to WTVR, a few minutes later, the price rose to $6.99.
Reporter Shannon Lilly shared a photo of the station’s sign:
WTVR spoke with a store official about the prices, said he had run out of gas; minutes later, the sign was switched off.
Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring shared a video urging citizens who believe they were being charged “an exorbitant amount for gas” to contact his office’s Consumer Protection Section:
Tuesday, as he declared a state of emergency Gov. Ralph Northan (D) said “to help the Commonwealth prepare for and respond to any potential fuel supply shortages as a result of the Colonial Pipeline cyberattack”:
The pipeline cyberattack and concerns about gas prices contributed to the gas shortage on the East Coast.
“Colonial Pipeline, a critical source of fuel on the East Coast of the United States, shut down its operations on Friday after the cyberattack, prompting concerns that gas prices would rise,” the outlet said.
The BP station in Richmond that charged $6.99 per gallon is reportedly issuing refunds, according to WTVR.