With fuel prices in Connecticut hovering around $3 per gallon, state lawmakers passed a bill this week that would toughen the state’s price-gouging law for motor fuels and other energy products.

The General Assembly on Tuesday, Oct. 25, forwarded a bill to Gov. M. Jodi Rell that would expand existing Connecticut law in three main areas.

Part of a larger energy bill, the gouging measure would double the penalties for price gouging to $10,000, per occurrence. It also would extend the prohibition on gouging to include natural gas and electricity.

Current Connecticut law prohibits gouging on goods and services, such as gasoline and diesel.

In addition, the bill – SB2100 – would expand the current price-gouging law to take effect during anticipated or perceived market threats, such as hurricanes.

Currently, state law only applies during periods of abnormal market disruptions, not in anticipation of them.

Senate President Pro Tempore Donald E. Williams Jr., D-Brooklyn, said the bill is more broadly designed to allow officials to evaluate the entire energy market chain, from retailers to wholesalers on up to oil companies.

“Disasters must not be compounded by profiteering. It’s unconscionable to allow some to exploit tragedies by unnecessarily increasing prices for financial gain,” Williams said in a written statement.