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 www.wpma.com / Fall 2026
 Member News        
Rules & Regulations
DIGITAL PRICING
DIGITAL PRICING
      —Draws New Scrutiny
As a recent attendee of the 
Idaho Petroleum Marketers &  
Convenience Store Association 
(IPM&CSA) Convention  
in Coeur d’Alene, it was a pleasure to 
spend a few days talking through the 
regulatory issues on the minds of fuel 
wholesalers, distributors, and retailers. 
One topic that came up on the retail 
side and that deserves wider attention 
is the fast-moving policy debate over 
so-called “surveillance pricing” or 
“algorithmic pricing.” 
The concern is straightforward: companies increas-
ingly use data collection technologies to adjust prices for  
individual consumers, drawing on inputs like precise location, 
browsing history, purchase history, and demographic data. This 
practice is common-place now in a digitalized marketplace.  
For regulators, this isn’t a theoretical concern anymore.
An Emerging  
Regulatory Concern
In July 2024, the Federal Trade Com-
mission used its Section 6(b) investigative 
authority to order eight data and pricing 
intermediary firms to turn over information 
on how they build and sell these pricing tools. 
In January 2025, the FTC released a preliminary staff research 
summary of its findings—an unusual step, since the underlying 
6(b) study is still ongoing. The initial findings were attention-
grabbing: staff found that granular consumer behavior, down to 
mouse movements on a webpage and items left in an abandoned 
shopping cart, are being collected and used to tailor prices to 
individual shoppers. 
Since then, state attorneys general have picked up the thread—
California’s AG opened an investigation into surveillance pricing 
in the retail, grocery, and hotel sectors in January 2026, and 
New York’s AG has issued a consumer alert and opened her own 
inquiry into a prominent company’s pricing disclosures. Since 
then, more than 40 bills have been introduced across at least 24 
states in 2026 alone—already surpassing all of 2025—targeting 
personalized algorithmic pricing through disclosure mandates, 
outright prohibitions, or sector-specific restrictions. New York’s 
Algorithmic Pricing Disclosure Act took effect in November 
2025, requiring a consumer-facing notice whenever a price was 
set using an algorithm and personal data. New Jersey went fur-
ther this summer, enacting the Fair Price Protection Act, which 
makes personalized algorithmic pricing an unlawful practice for 
retail food stores. Maryland, Connecticut, Illinois, and a growing 
list of others have advanced their own versions, with more states 
expected to introduce bills in 2027 sessions.
Why This Matters 
for Fuel Retailers
Here’s the hook members should pay 
close attention to: these bills, as drafted, 
tend to define “algorithmic” or “personal-
ized” pricing extremely broadly—broadly 
enough that a plain reading could sweep in loyalty programs, 
app-based fuel discounts, and other data-informed personaliza-
tion tools that fuel retailers have used for years to compete and 
build customer relationships. Most of the bills that have moved 
forward include express carve-outs for loyalty and rewards 
programs, senior/veteran/teacher discounts, and similar bona 
fide discount structures. But the carve-outs vary state to state, 
and a bill drafted to catch big-data intermediaries in grocery or 
hospitality doesn’t always draw a clean line around a fuel re-
tailer’s mobile app offering a member-only per-gallon discount. 
Members running loyalty apps or personalized fuel pricing tools 
should watch the exact statutory language in any state where they 
operate, not just the headline intent.
EMA’s Position
The Energy Marketers of America 
(EMA) is monitoring this issue closely as 
it develops. The Association is generally  
supportive of public policy that strengthens 
consumer protection and privacy—those  
are legitimate goals, and the underlying concerns about opaque, 
individualized pricing are real. But regulatory intervention 
should be narrowly tailored to the actual harm. It should not be 
drafted so broadly that it sweeps in transparent, opt-in loyalty 
programs and app-based discounts that benefit consumers and 
that fuel marketers have relied on for years. As more states take 
up this issue in 2027 sessions, EMA will continue to advocate for 
that narrower approach, and we’ll keep members updated as the 
legislative landscape develops.
S
Jorge Roman  
Energy Marketers of 
America (EMA)  
Regulatory Associate 
at Bassman, Mitchell, 
Alfano & Leiter Chtd

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