Wilson Fuel
The Wilson Fuel Company Limited, often shortened to Wilson Fuel, is an independent petroleum wholesaler, distributor and retailer headquartered in Truro, Nova Scotia. Wilson Fuel brands itself as the largest "independent" home heating fuel and gasoline retailer in Atlantic Canada; this is usually in reference to the fact that the company is a medium-scale retailer, as opposed to its competitors which are refiners and large-scale retailers.
History
Wilson Fuel traces its history to a mercantile trade company founded in Truro during the early 19th century. It branched out into construction in Colchester County during the early 20th century and was involved in some of the reconstruction efforts in Dartmouth following the Halifax Explosion. It was also a general contractor for many of Nova Scotia's historic buildings from the late 19th century and early 20th century. The company gradually left the construction industry and began to supply coal to Truro's residential and commercial customers for heating from a coal yard alongside the Canadian National Railways main line at Pleasant Street. The company adopted its present name of Wilson Fuel Company Limited during the 1950s when fuel oil replaced coal.
The company expanded its residential and commercial fuel oil distribution and wholesale business through the 1960s-first decade of the 21st century and branched out into the retail petroleum business during the 1990s. The company maintains its headquarters on the original retail coal yard in Truro.
The retail petroleum subsidiary of Wilson Fuel owns and operates 78 service stations, with 66 operating under the Esso brand, and the remainder under the brand Wilsons Gas Stops. The company also distributes gasoline to 155 independent retail stations throughout Atlantic Canada. All company owned and operated stations have convenience stores and fast food outlets.
The company's president is Ian Alexander Wilson. Its former vice-president, Dave Collins, is often quoted by Nova Scotian media discussing that province's petroleum pricing policies, particularly when prices increase.
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Petroleum price regulation controversy
The provinces of Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick regulate the retail prices of all petroleum products (gasoline, diesel, propane, home heating fuel). Prince Edward Island has been regulating its prices since the 1980s and Newfoundland since the 1990s, however Nova Scotia and New Brunswick only implemented price regulation in 2006 in response to public pressure over wild price fluctuations during the winter of 2005–2006.
Wilson Fuel's subsidiary Wilsons Gas Stops has been consistently opposed to price regulation. Wilsons Gas Stops moved into the Prince Edward Island marketplace in early 2005 after purchasing several Esso stations from Imperial Oil; this coming after several years of studying how the long-established price regulation scheme was working in that province. In the days following Hurricane Katrina, wholesale international prices for petroleum increased dramatically, forcing Wilsons and other independent (i.e. non-refining) retailers to adjust their prices accordingly, except that this wasn't possible in the regulated retail market in Prince Edward Island. On September 1, Wilsons Gas Stops announced that it would stop supplying fuel to its company-owned stations and its independent retail customers since the company would be taking a severe financial loss if it were to do so.
Wilsons Gas Stops has continued to voice concern at increased price regulation in Atlantic Canada in the months since the price fluctuations following Hurricane Katrina.