By Tony McVeigh
Frankfort, KY – In Frankfort, two economic experts battled it out in a day long hearing in Kentucky's gas price gouging case against Marathon Petroleum. The state is accusing Marathon of gasoline price gouging during a state of emergency declared on April 26th and still in effect. Peter Ashton, a consulting economist for the attorney general's office, says the price hikes were grossly in excess of pre-emergency prices. "And furthermore, based on other data that I had looked at, I believe that cost increases could not justify those particular price increases." But Marathon's economic expert says the company has to raise and lower prices in order to remain competitive and there's no proof any of the increases were excessive. The state wants Franklin Circuit Judge Thomas Wingate to order Marathon to restore pre-emergency gas price levels, but he made no immediate ruling.