With more than 1,000 consumers having complained about suspected price gouging by gas stations in recent weeks, it is right that the state is actively investigating the complaints.

But although it is good to know that such a probe is under way, the state's motorists deserve a detailed report of findings connected with the investigation once it is completed. Oftentimes the findings of such investigations become "lost" amid new important issues.

State investigators reportedly are visiting stations that have received multiple complaints and also are gathering data related to wholesale prices before and after Hurricane Katrina triggered a nationwide price spike. It is to be hoped that the investigators will not ignore the situation that evolved in Butler County, even if there haven't been a large number of specific complaints relating to the big, quick price increases here.

The probe is warranted, considering that days after Katrina had left the South, stations in Mississippi were reported to be selling gasoline for $2.43 a gallon while in many places in Pennsylvania, including here, the per-gallon price was $3.19. And, there was no apparent gasoline shortage here.

It's good that the 1,000-plus consumers came forward to complain. But considering the price-increase chaos that overtook the state over such a brief time frame, it's puzzling why there weren't many more.

Perhaps many motorists have just resigned themselves to the fact of being victimized by "Big Oil" and have lost faith in anyone's ability to battle price gouging, even if evidence of its occurrence appears beyond question.