Most people fill up their tank during the daily life and never sit down and total up how much money they spend on their expensive gas fuel. As the production of oil is seems to be nearing its peak, there have been expensive gas prices for all of us.
Those of us who live in the continental United States have a leg up on our island-dwelling brethren who live in the paradise of Hawaii: gas prices. As a result of the immense cost of shipping thousands of weighty barrels of fuel across the pacific ocean, gas prices in Hawaii are roughly 20% higher than those in the mainland, giving Hawaii the dubious honor of having the most expensive gas in the US.
Hawaii’s state public utilities commission enacted a gas price cap law on September 1, 2005 in an effort to curtail sharply rising prices on the islands. The cap is changed weekly, and is based upon average prices for regular unleaded in Los Angeles, New York City, and the Gulf Coast region. The gas cap was imposed despite much opposition, both from industry opponents and consumers who failed to see how the cap would reduce prices. However, the point of the cap is not actually to reduce prices. By linking Hawaii’s gas prices to those on the mainland, the utilities commission hopes to eliminate price fixing that would unfairly increase the cost of filling up for the state’s citizens. Public figures are hopeful that the cap will work and perhaps, eventually, give Alaska the title of most expensive gas in the United States.
Next week’s retail gas prices are predicted to range from $3.40 a gallon for regular on Oahu to $3.77 on Lanai, according to reports from Honolulu’s Star-Bulletin. The state average price for the most expensive gas in the US is $3.24 a gallon, 32 cents higher than the national average.
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