HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — A Bellaire gas station was fined $50,000 for price gouging during a disaster earlier this year.
The Harris County Attorney's Office announced that the Shell gas station on the West Loop at Fournace Place hiked gas prices 19% during Hurricane Beryl.
The county attorney's office said BTCM Aviation LLC operates the gas station.
It's the second Houston-area gas station to be hit with a fine in the wake of the storm.
"These lawsuits filed after Hurricane Beryl show that we will not sit by while businesses try to take advantage of residents during a crisis," County Attorney Christian D. Menefee said. "These two lawsuits saw a total of $100,000 in penalties and punitive measures, far more than they made during this period of exploiting their customers. We received over 250 complaints of price gouging in the days after the storm, but I hope that this serves as a warning for the future that this kind of behavior will not be tolerated here in Harris County."
Menefee said most businesses complied with the county's cease-and-desist notice to not raise prices at the time but the HCAO took action against those that didn't.
For more information and to report consumer fraud or price gouging, visit the Harris County Attorney's Office website at cao.harriscountytx.gov.