Douglas Man Protests Gas Prices, Drives Out Of Town To Fill
Early January 2023:
He has been seen sitting in front of the Safeway gas station with a sign that says “B.S.”
Robert Olson was not happy with Douglas's gas prices, now at $1 more per gallon than Glenrock’s and Casper’s prices.
He was sitting on a metal folding chair in front of the Safeway’s gas station on East Richards with a cardboard sign on which he spray painted his protest.
“Petrol, Douglas, $1.20." An arrow points up at "40 gal, $2k/year.”
Then there are several cow pies on the ground in front of another sign. That other sign simply says, “B.S.”
Olson does not like paying $2,000 a year more to fill up his vehicles’ gas tanks in Douglas.
He spoke with Clifford Smith, a local reporter with The Glenrock Independent.
“Yes, I am pissed off. Upset. It irritates me to be paying $1.20 more a gallon here in Douglas than Casper, half an hour north of us,” Olson said.
“Like many people, my income is limited. If you average out (the cost difference) it comes to about $2k a year. That’s not insignificant. We’re getting ripped off.
“If we had to arbitrarily pay $2k more in taxes in a year, that wouldn’t sit well with people. They’d be screaming about it. I protested because I’m trying to bring light to the matter,” he said Monday morning.
Olson sat there for 3 hours.
People slowed down to read his sign and some stopped to chat with him.
One woman got out of her car to hug him.
He has been driving outside of Douglas to purchase gas. Sure, the trip eats up any savings, but that's not the point.
Gas prices dipped in Wyoming for a time, but Douglas stayed high. WHY?
Back in early January:
Douglas was averaging $3.29/gallon for regular. In Glenrock, Eastgate Sinclair station reported $2.35/gallon. Just 48 miles away in Casper, gas prices are even lower with an average of $2.30/gallon for regular. (The Glenrock Independent.).
Currently, in the beginning of February:
Gasbuddy.com shows Wheatland has the higher gas price, averaging $3.38. Glendo's price was the same. Douglas is below them at an average of $3.27. That's the same price for Glenrock. Casper's average price is $3.28.
WHY THE DIFFERENCE IN PRICES?
There are often local reasons why gas prices are higher in some places and not in others.
Local regulations play a big part in the price.
Who the station buys gas from, when, and what price they were able to get it at plays another part in the price war.
Sometimes a station buys at a higher price, then the price drops on them, and the station is stuck with what they have. If they lower the price at the pump they will take a loss what is currently in their tanks. So they have to keep their price high until the tank is empty.
But Robert Olson doesn't see it that way.
“The gas prices are going down everywhere else . . . they have been going down for several months. Why aren’t we seeing similar price reductions in Douglas? We’re getting screwed,” he stated. (The Glenrock Independent.).