Imagine the following. You show up to a gas station to fill your van with gas, and as you start to fill up you notice that the starting point on the pump is $50.
You quickly stop pumping and ask the attendant why the price is not starting at zero. He states that this is a base fee, which covers the cost of getting the fuel to your vehicle.
You are a little upset but decide to fill up anyway, as the price per litre doesn’t look that bad.
After 20 litres, however, you notice a sharp increase on the pump.
You stop again and ask why the price just jumped.
The attendant says that you are now in tier two, so the price goes up.
He warns you to try and avoid tiers three and four.
This is to encourage you to use less gas. Unfortunately since you have a large family, you need the van.
So because of the tier system, although you will use less fuel per person than a single occupancy smart car to move from point A to point B, you will pay on average more per litre.
He also mentions that even though their fuel tanks are at normal operating levels for this time of year, they are only allowing their customers to drive three days per week to reduce fuel consumption.
When you ask why, he says that you never know if there will be a good supply in the future.
As you hop in your van to leave, you hear that annoying commercial again. “Don’t drive, let it sit.”
This is the annual campaign telling you that Okanagan motorists are the biggest fuel wasters in the country and should just stop driving.
Following the commercial is a news break with the top story being that the base price for gas is set to surge next year because people aren’t using enough gas to cover costs.
Now stop imagining. If you wouldn’t accept this for fuel, why are we accepting it for water?
Joel van der Molen
Vernon
