By Dorie Turner, The Associated Press

ATLANTA — More than 150 Georgia gas stations are having to defend why they charged inflated prices after Hurricanes Gustav and Ike made fuel scarce over the past month.

The state has subpoenaed sales records from businesses following complaints from 1,500 customers angry over what they were paying at the pump. State officials received reports of gas as high as $9.99 a gallon for regular unleaded, said Bill Cloud, spokesman for the Governor’s Office of Consumer Affairs.

He said his office is still getting a few dozen calls a day about gas prices.

One station in Cobb County was charging $8.82 a gallon, and a Houston County gas station was asking customers to pay $7 per gallon, Cloud said.

Complaints about possibly inflated prices have been received from every region of the state, according to Shawn Conroy, a spokesman for the Governor’s Office of Consumer Affairs.

“Anywhere you have a number of stations along an Interstate highway you will have issues,” he said.

The number of stations whose records are being subpoenaed had reached 156 by mid-afternoon Wednesday, but it will be several months before the matter is resolved or goes to court, Mr. Conroy said.

In North Georgia, state records showed no gouging claims in Catoosa and Chattooga counties, and one claim each in Walker and Gilmer counties. Two claims each were in Fanning, Floyd and Gordon; three claims made against stations in Dade County, five stations were named in Whitfield County and eight claims of gouging are being investigated in Murray County, according to records.

“This is an ongoing investigation so we can not name individual stations until the investigation is concluded,” Mr. Conroy said.

Under state law, businesses have to prove that they were making the same profit with their elevated prices as they were prior to Gov. Sonny Perdue activating the anti-gouging statutes Sept. 12, Cloud said.

“Simply put, if it costs you $1 a gallon when you bought it and you were selling it for $2, then if it now costs you $2, you can sell it for $3,” Cloud said.

Gustav and Ike shuttered Gulf Coast oil refineries for weeks and resulted in gasoline shortages that had frustrated motorists hunting for fuel and waiting in line sometimes for hours to fill up.

According to AAA, the average price for unleaded regular gas in Georgia was $3.72 a gallon on Wednesday, more than $1 over a year ago. The national average was $3.45.

Georgia’s gas average hit an all-time high Sept. 15 at $4.16 per gallon.

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