Oil < $70, gas still over $3.20/gallon

I usually don't like to talk about unscrupulous companies since I believe the market place takes care of them eventually, but I think its time for everyone to question their suppliers of oil, gas, propane, and electricity. It is the only way to ensure that they know they are being watched.

Oil has now dropped over 55% from the $147 high in July, but gas prices on average have come down only about 25%. They are very quick to rise, but oh so slow to come down. Soooo....

Question you gas supplier. Tell them that you are going to take your business elsewhere unless they begin to start "getting with the program" and lowering their prices. If enough people do this, then the free-markets take over and the prices will come down.

Call you electricity and propane suppliers. Hint that you are going to start shopping around for other suppliers if they don't begin to get back inline with current oil prices.

I believe that the free-market works, you just have to be willing to use your consuming power to get it done. Start a phone campaign just amongst your friends. Get them involved. I know that this works since I have done it in my neck of the woods, and we have seen prices come down a lot faster.

Get a web site and start posting prices of current suppliers on the web site. Have people take on one or two suppliers and get their daily prices and then email you so you can update the prices. It doesn't have to be national in scope, just in your own neighborhood.

Free-markets are wonderful, powerful mechanisms, and the Internet can make it even easier to make them work correctly. Players that want to take advantage of the market inefficiencies can only do so if their actions are NOT made transparent, and this is where the Internet comes in.

Exercise some consumer power.