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Gas sold for pennies a gallon — including at West Columbia store — thanks to tech glitch

An apparent computer glitch Tuesday night caused gas prices to plummet to pennies a gallon at several Circle K gas stations, including one in West Columbia, SC.
An apparent computer glitch Tuesday night caused gas prices to plummet to pennies a gallon at several Circle K gas stations, including one in West Columbia, SC. Screenshot from Twitter

An apparent computer glitch Tuesday night caused gas prices to plummet to pennies a gallon at at least two Circle K stations, including one in West Columbia.

WACH Fox reported that prices at the Circle K on Augusta Road in West Columbia dropped to as low as 1 cent Tuesday night.

“There was quite a few cars there,” said Assistant Chief Scott Morrision of the West Columbia Police Department, whose officers were called to the station. “Gas was selling for a penny a gallon. Obviously that’s not right. The pumps were actually selling it for a penny a gallon.”

Some of the people excited to see the unreal prices became upset when told they would not be able to fill up their tanks for pennies.

“Some issues arose from that,” he said, adding that no arrests were reported.

Other Circle K stores appeared to be affected by the glitch, including in Baton Rouge, La., and in Albuquerque, N.M., according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

It was not clear Wednesday morning how widespread the glitch was. A Circle K spokesperson could not immediately be reached for comment.

This story was originally published December 12, 2018 at 9:26 AM.

TK
Teddy Kulmala
The State
Teddy Kulmala covers breaking news for The State and covered crime and courts for seven years in Columbia, Rock Hill, Aiken and Lumberton, N.C. He graduated from Clemson University and grew up in Barnwell County.
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