Fuel Oil With Zero BTUs

Who would buy the phantom fuel? Actually, anyone prepaying for future delivery runs that risk. A fixed-price contract for heating oil works for the consumer only if the product is delivered when needed. If the dealer goes out of business prior to delivery, then the consumer is S.O.L. He would have been better off burning his money instead.

With the volatility in energy prices these days, a fixed-price contract seems a lose-lose proposition. If oil prices go down between payment and delivery, then buyer's remorse sets in ("geez, I overpaid last August"). But if prices go up, then the dealer gets squeezed, jeopardizing service. "It never occurred to me that, by signing a prepayment contract, I was placing all my money at risk," says a Saco landlord in today's Portland Press Herald.

The landlord goes on to suggest that the state should be monitoring business activities more closely to protect consumers. I disagree. Adding more state regulation means increasing the burden on taxpayers, who in this case would be enlisted to partially subsidize the delivery of heating oil. Even worse, the state would be collaborating in a price-fixing scheme that is ultimately self-defeating. Free markets exist to match supply and demand, and prices need to fluctuate freely to work.

Champions of a nanny state have forgotten the age-old dictum: caveat emptor. Besides, there is a whole class of hired guns ready to sue on the consumer's behalf for breach of contract. They are called vult...um, lawyers.