As I already told Mr. McTeague, in essence this bill seeks to establish a power to investigate. Other countries have this power. Mr. McTeague is fascinated by the price of gas.
Are you aware that oil and gas companies determined that their only competition is the result of costs required by municipalities? Within a municipality, the price of gas is uniform, but in a smaller municipality, for example, the price is different. It may be lower. Oil and gas companies do not compete with each other. Competition is at the municipal level. That is where the difference lies, and that is where we want action. We want truly competitive prices. As Mr. Wallace mentioned earlier, when he worked for Texaco, he used binoculars to check prices. Looking at a competitor's price and adjusting our own is not competition. For there to be true competition among oil and gas companies, prices at one company must be lower than those at another so that they lower their prices. That way, everyone doesn't have the same price.