Drivers across the region are feeling the impact of escalating gasoline prices, but there”s a bit of good news: Industry experts don”t expect summer prices to be as bad as many have feared. In fact, after June, they expect rates to steadily drop for the remainder of the year.
Friday afternoon, Columbus stations averaged $3.69 per gallon for regular and $3.99 for premium grade, according to GasBuddy.com, a website which tracks daily fuel prices nationwide. Starkville averaged $3.64 and $3.91 respectively.
That”s on par with the Gulf Region average right now, said economist Neil Gamson of the U.S. Energy Information Administration in Washington, D.C.
Mississippi — along with Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas, and New Mexico — is part of EIA”s Petroleum Allocation District 3. Because of the proximity to the oil-rich, refinery-dotted Gulf of Mexico, these six states tend to experience prices around 15 cents lower per gallon than the rest of the nation.
Gamson said though people have tossed around the idea of $4 per gallon for regular grade gas by summer, there”s only a 33 percent chance the nation will actually see that. The projected national price is $3.88, and in Mississippi, he expects prices to peak out at $3.76 in June. By the end of the year, EIA predicts prices around $3.56 for the Gulf Region.
Of course, petroleum forecasting is an inexact science.
“Four dollars per gallon is in the realm of possibility,” Gamson said Friday. “You could have refinery problems, a hurricane, things worsening around the world — but the odds are against it.”
”I just don”t have it”
For people like Dewanna West, who lost her job at Wendy”s four months ago, prices are plenty high — too high for her to afford most days.
Thursday afternoon, she juggled her two-year-old daughter on her hip while she filled the tank of her 1998 Ford Expedition at Express Mart No. 3 on Main Street.
Intermittently, she peered at the numbers on the pump as they flicked higher and higher. When she reached $10, she stopped. It wasn”t as much gas as she needed – it was barely a quarter of a tank. She would have to fill up again by nightfall.
“I”ll have to borrow the money, because I just don”t have it,” she said. “It bothers me, because I like being independent.”
At the pump opposite West, Bennie Hinton faced a similar predicament as he filled up the tank of his 2000 Jeep Laredo.
He”s self-employed, and already he has had to raise prices on his lawn-cutting service by $5 per lawn. He”s lost a few customers, and he figures he”s lost a few more potential ones since he stopped driving the streets, looking for work. Gas costs too much for such aimless wandering.
He”s filling in the gaps doing odd jobs — home improvement, mechanic work — anything to keep the bills paid.
Express Mart owner Cindy Watkins started a free gas contest when she opened the store in 1989, but she said she”s seen a definite increase in interest lately. Customers receive one ticket stub for every $3 spent during the week and one ticket for every dollar on Sundays.
Monday morning, she randomly draws four tickets; the winners receive a voucher for $25 of gas. She said she often has a group of customers anxiously waiting to see if their name is drawn.
“Used to be, they might check, they might not,” Watkins said Friday morning. “They check a lot more closely now. A lot of (the winners) jump up and down, they”re so excited.”
Of course, $25 doesn”t buy what it used to.
“When I first started this, they couldn”t use the whole $25 at one time,” she said. “Now it barely makes a dent.”
Changing habits
While most people say they”re changing their driving habits, trying to make fewer trips, some have decided to dump gas guzzlers and switch to more fuel-friendly vehicles.
The used car lot is jammed bumper to bumper with sports utility vehicles at Carl Hogan Honda on Highway 45 North, and business is booming for general sales manager Jeff Bolling, who said he”s selling eight to 10 more cars than usual each month thanks to budget-conscious drivers.
“It used to be, they would drive cars till the wheels fell off,” Bolling said. “Now they”re forced into making a decision.”
By far, his most popular sellers are the Honda Civic and the Honda Accord. But surprisingly, bucking a national trend where hybrids show little traction with drivers, he can”t keep the sporty CR-Z and Insight — both hybrid electric cars — in stock.
His biggest problem with hybrid cars used to be educating consumers about the benefits. Now he has a new issue: Meeting supply and demand.
“I”ve sold more of those Insights in the past two or three months than I”ve sold in the past year,” he said. “Right now, I don”t have any. I have two coming, and they”ll be placed as soon as they arrive.”
”We will run over budget”
Increased fuel prices are causing local governments to rejigger budgets as well. From the city to the county, it”s a hot — and sometimes touchy — subject.
Mike Bernson, chief financial officer for the City of Columbus, criticized the city council earlier in the week after the council voted to amend its budget to avert a $536,064 shortfall due in part to rising fuel prices.
The most costly amendment added $157,031 to the $450,000 fuel budget, which would otherwise have been overrun because of rising fuel prices and higher-than-expected usage by city employees, he said.
Diesel usage for the street department and landfill machinery required a $40,000 budget increase; the bulk of the increase was for gasoline.
“This budget”s not worth a damn, to be honest with you,” Bernsen told councilmen.
The city is exploring software which would track usage for each of the 80 to 120 vehicles the city runs, but Bernsen said even if the city doesn”t adopt the tracking technology, which would cost $375 per vehicle, he still will use the city”s new computer system to analyze how much gas is used per vehicle in every department.
Still, he acknowledged, “it”s hard to put a dart on a moving target.”
Administrator Ralph Billingsly said Lowndes County officials are poring over their budget as well. They are particularly concerned about the summer months, which is the busiest time for road repair.
“We expect we will run over budget,” he said.
Carmen K. Sisson is the former news editor at The Dispatch.
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