Aramark Overcharging on Fuel… Again…..

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ashtonc77

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I sent the email below to Glen Canyon staff on May 19th hoping they would bring fuel prices back into compliance before Memorial Day weekend. I never heard back so resent it on the 29th and still have not received a response. I still have not seen fuel prices adjusted. I feel like it’s important for the public to be aware as it’s resulting in Aramark overcharging thousands of dollars in fuel with no accountability as it will directly affect anyone using the on lake fuel during their vacations. This is the second time in the past 2 years I’ve seen them overcharging on fuel (first time was the entire 2023 season which was not brought into compliance until September of that year).

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Dear NPS Staff,

I hope this message finds you well.

I was recently on the lake and noticed that current fuel prices at Bullfrog Marina seem significantly higher than expected. Based on prior communication from NPS in 2023, I understand that the Direct Comparability Method is used to determine allowable fuel pricing at on-lake marinas. To ensure I’m interpreting the situation correctly, I wanted to share some updated information and request clarification on a few points.

2023 Method Reference:

As previously explained, fuel pricing was determined by comparing Bullfrog to the following marinas:
  1. Lake Havasu Marina, AZ – $5.999 (minus tax $0.376) = $5.623
  2. Don Pedro Marina, CA – $6.286 (minus tax $0.560) = $5.726
  3. Bartlett Lake, AZ – $5.999 (minus tax $0.376) = $5.623
  4. Roosevelt Lake, AZ – $6.229 (minus tax $0.376) = $5.853
This resulted in an average of $5.706, with Bullfrog’s allowable price calculated as:
$5.706 + $0.5564 tax + $0.11 UPT = $6.373/gallon

Updated Price Check (May 2025):

After contacting these same marinas directly, I found the following updated pricing:
  1. Lake Havasu Marina, AZ – $4.59 (minus assumed tax $0.376) = $4.21
  2. Don Pedro Marina, CA – $7.89 (minus assumed tax $0.560) = $7.33 (Premium only)
  3. Bartlett Lake, AZ – $5.99 (minus assumed tax $0.376) = $5.61 (Premium only)
  4. Roosevelt Lake, AZ – $5.59 (minus assumed tax $0.376) = $5.21 (Premium only)
Average (before tax): $5.59
Updated allowable price for Bullfrog:
$5.59 + $0.5564 tax + $0.11 UPT = $6.26/gallon

However, Bullfrog is currently charging $6.73/gallon, which appears to exceed the allowable amount by $0.47 per gallon. On May 15, I purchased 162.580 gallons, potentially resulting in an overpayment of $74.41 (receipt attached).

I would greatly appreciate your assistance with the following:
  1. Please confirm whether the same Direct Comparability Method is still in use. If so:
    a. Could NPS ensure that Bullfrog’s fuel pricing is brought back into compliance?
    b. I respectfully request a refund from Aramark for the noted overpayment, and a review of any similar transactions that may have occurred earlier this season to ensure others receive the same reimbursement.
  2. Octane Discrepancy: Bullfrog provides only Regular Unleaded (87), whereas three of the four comparison marinas supply only Premium (91) fuel. This presents an issue of apples-to-oranges comparison. Premium fuel generally costs more, so if Bullfrog is only selling Regular Unleaded, the pricing should reflect that lower cost category. Continuing to benchmark Bullfrog’s 87 Octane fuel against marinas that exclusively sell 91 Octane appears to artificially inflate the allowable pricing. I would ask that:
    1. Either Bullfrog begin offering 91 Octane to match the comparables, or
    2. The fuel price benchmark be adjusted downward to reflect the lower-grade fuel currently sold at Bullfrog.
  3. Comparables & Methodology: Roosevelt Lake remains a significant outlier in the benchmark group. In my research, I checked fuel prices at seven other on-water marinas in Arizona, Nevada, and New Mexico, and found the average price for 91 Octane was $4.94/gallon, which is significantly lower than Roosevelt and Don Pedro. Could you please share:
    1. The criteria and methodology used to select these four marinas as comparables.
    2. The date of the last update to the comparison group and whether a revision is planned soon.
    3. A copy of the Rate Administration Guide or relevant documentation used to govern fuel pricing at Lake Powell.
  4. Propane Tank Pricing: Bullfrog currently charges $54.25 per exchange tank, which is over double the cost of exchanges in Salt Lake City. Could you share the approved rate structure or guidelines for propane pricing at concession-operated marinas?
I appreciate the important work your team does to support visitors and protect Lake Powell’s resources. I’m hopeful we can work together to ensure pricing remains transparent and in line with approved methods.
 
What's going on at Don Pedro? I've been keeping a log of gas prices in my area of California for 20 years. In May of 2023, regular unleaded here was $4.89/gallon (including tax). And now this year, regular unleaded is also $4.89/gallon. (It went up and down in the years in between.)

In 2023, Don Pedro was charging about 26% more than a "typical" California price, but now they are charging 61% more?!? Has anything changed at Don Pedro to validate the increased price? Or is it just another example of the increase in recreation prices over the past few years?

And, of course, the idea that Don Pedro is even used as a comparison for Lake Powell is nonsense.
 
Just to entertain Philbo's post for a second...

Current prices at Lake Powell Marinas operated by Aramark are between $6.53 and $6.73/gallon for regular fuel only. Just as a reminder, there is basically no competition for on lake fuel hence the reason that the fuel prices are "regulated" by NPS.

Let's look at some of the surrounding marinas which mostly provide premium fuel only and see how they compare.
-Pleasant Harbor Marina (AZ)- $5.15
-Bear Lake Marina (UT)- $6.50
-Las Vegas Boat Harbor (NV)- $4.37 (and $3.97 for mid grade)
-Lake Pueblo Marina North/South Shore (CO)- $5.20/4.76
-Elephant Butte Marina (NM)- $5.49
-Navajo Lake Marina (NM)- $4.69

The average of these 7 marinas are $5.17/gallon for premium fuel. Help me to understand why you think it's acceptable for Aramark to charge $1.56 more for REGULAR 87 Octane fuel considering all these other marinas are selling Premium 91 octane fuel?

On top of that, Antelope Point is currently charging $7.56 for their premium fuel. This is $2.39 more per gallon than the average of these 7 marinas.

I guess this is just part of marina life? Or is it a lack of oversight on the part of NPS allowing them to charge essentially whatever they want?
 
Fuel prices have seemed to grow substantially in recent years. I recently came across the 'Wayback Machine' which keeps records of websites dating back many many years. Shockingly enough it's tracking Lake Powell Marinas fuel prices and has dozens of archives from their website dating back to 2015 which paints a prefect picture of what fuel prices have done in the last decade at Lake Powell Marinas.

I've put the information into the graph below outlining the price per gallon of fuel throughout this time period. In general, Stateline, Bullfrog, and Halls Marinas have historically had the same fuel prices so there is overlap on those covering the actual data. You can see that the fuel prices peaked at over $7.50/gallon in 2022 but we are still on the higher end with current fuel prices. For a comparison, I also plotted the average Arizona and Utah gas prices per year as specified by ChatGPT which is shown on this graph. I'm not sure how accurate they are but I still feel that this gives a good baseline.
LP Marina Fuel Prices YoY.jpg

After plotting that initial data, I was interested to see what Aramark was up charging when compared to the average Utah and Arizona On land Fuel Prices over this time period which I've shown in the image below. I've added linear trendlines to more easily analyze the data. In 2015, on lake fuel cost around $1.60 more per gallon than the on land fuel. Trendlines show it increasing to right around $3.50 more per gallon now in 2025. In 2015, Aramark was up charging by 167%. Currently they are up charging by 203%.
Upcharge (Dollars).png

I'm curious what others feel is a reasonable markup for the on lake fuel?
 
Ashtonc77 wrote: "it's tracking Lake Powell Marinas fuel prices and has dozens of archives from their website dating back to 2015 which paints a prefect picture of what fuel prices have done in the last decade at Lake Powell Marinas." My question is, did this include Dangling Rope? Fuel cost more there because of the cost of getting it there. Of course, the last few years that doesn't apply.
 
ashtonc77 said:
I'm curious what others feel is a reasonable markup for the on lake fuel?
Click to expand...
There are so many factors to consider. The main one probably is how much more does it actually cost to have fuel on a dock? But also, the overall marina operations need to generate enough revenue (mostly during the summer) to sustain the business for the whole year.

This is why we need multiple vendors bidding for the contract. Part of their bid should be how much markup they need on fuel. Let the people running these businesses calculate what prices they really need in order to generate a "reasonable" profit.
 
Joe mama said:
Ashtonc77 wrote: "it's tracking Lake Powell Marinas fuel prices and has dozens of archives from their website dating back to 2015 which paints a prefect picture of what fuel prices have done in the last decade at Lake Powell Marinas." My question is, did this include Dangling Rope? Fuel cost more there because of the cost of getting it there. Of course, the last few years that doesn't apply.
Click to expand...
It did include the fuel prices at Dangling Rope up through 2021 when the marina was 'destroyed'. The DR fuel prices are plotted on the first graph in the dark green. It appears to track closely with the other marinas they operate. Fuel prices at Dangling Rope were consistently $0.43-0.44 more per gallon than the other marinas (Halls, Stateline, and Bullfrog) which is less than I would have imagined.
 
RichieW13 said:
There are so many factors to consider. The main one probably is how much more does it actually cost to have fuel on a dock? But also, the overall marina operations need to generate enough revenue (mostly during the summer) to sustain the business for the whole year.

This is why we need multiple vendors bidding for the contract. Part of their bid should be how much markup they need on fuel. Let the people running these businesses calculate what prices they really need in order to generate a "reasonable" profit.
Click to expand...
Really good questions! My initial intuition would be that based on the other 7 marinas I shared pricing for- it doesn't seem to cost much where they must still be profitable at their lower fuel prices.

As you mentioned, the costs associated with marina operations is something important to take into account as well. We don't have a great look into Aramark's financials but I do have some information regarding the 10/3/15-9/30/16 time period. During that time period, Wahweap marina alone grossed $57.7M in revenue. This includes $10.3M from Lodging, $4.8M from Food and Beverage Sales, $4.8M for slips and Mooring, $9.5M for Houseboat Rentals, $2.3M for Boat Rentals, $4.9M for fuel sales and $4.8M for Guided tours.

If I look at just the $4.9M in fuel sales which averaged about $4.03/gallon during that timeframe- that would say they sold over 1.2M Gallons of fuel during that timeframe. With an average markup of $2.04 from Arizona fuel prices during this time period, they generated nearly $2.5M more in revenue than an on land fuel station would have generated. How much of that $2.5M does it take to operate on lake fuel? IDK but I would assume it would be pennies on the dollar but I could be wrong... How much profit do they need to cover their other expenses during the offseason? Looks like they might be making enough through lodging, food and beverage sells, slips, houseboat rentals, and boat rentals to make up for all that as well- especially when you consider the fact that they are doing very little to upgrade and even maintain the services, boats, and infrastructure. On top of that, they are not paying franchise fees (which should have been a minimum of $5M dollars that year when compared to other concessionaire's at NPS marinas). I feel like Aramark has got to be making out like bandits and you are right- these contracts do need to go out to bid but NPS still has very little interest in doing so.
 
If someone built themselves a fuel tender and parked in a cove up lake they would make bank. The enforced lack of competition is a real gift to Aramark, and I’m sure they pay it back to the management. When I was working at Grand Canyon the project manager would regularly stay in the contractors vacation cabin.
 
Simply stated a fact as I know if from years of boating. Marina gas is more expensive due to a lack of options other than to tow your boat to town.

Hear is another fact as I know it from years of living in the islands on a sail boat. Diesel Fuel is not cheap and Water is more expensive for the same reason, you really have no option.

Implied or stated outright, either way I never mentioned a contractual agreement.


Another argument for you to jump down my throat for..... I've never understood the complete obsession most have with water levels on the lake. It is what it is and as long as it's wet I'll enjoy it.
 
Thought it would be worth passing along that fuel prices on the lake have been adjusted to be more 'in line' with the contractual obligations on the lake. In the last couple weeks, fuel prices have dropped from $6.73 to $6.36 at Stateline and Bullfrog Marinas. This is still $0.10 higher than they are contractually obligated to be selling it for and significantly higher than they should be charging based on the comparison to other marinas selling premium fuel only.

When emailing NPS about this issue, this is the response I received after 3 weeks-

Fuel rates at the Aramark land assignments throughout the park are set by Aramark, then reviewed and approved by the National Park Service.

For further information regarding NPS Concessions, please see Concessions (U.S. National Park Service).

If you would like additional specific information about our concessioner, Aramark, please submit a FOIA request.


Who would have thought we would have to submit a FOIA request to find out why Fuel is being overcharged on the lake???

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