Gas prices soared on trip across the state last Friday

September 18, 2008 12:16 am

I'VE SEEN gas prices up before.

But not like last Friday evening, when on a 250-mile trip to southside Virginia I saw prices changing by 10 to 20 cents an hour.

I was on my way to have dinner with a relative in Farmville.

Going the back way through Gordonsville is always a great choice, especially this time of year.

As I pulled out of Fredericksburg, the signs in front of the gas stations that usually have the lowest prices hereabouts still had regular going for something like $3.45 gallon.

By the time I got to Gordonsville, some of the stations had prices in the high $3.60s.

"Wow, gas is more expensive out here," I remarked, totally oblivious to the effect that Hurricane Ike was to have.

But I knew something was up when I got to Fork Union and saw people changing the gas signs to $3.70 for regular.

By the time we hit Farmville, a station on one main thoroughfare had a price higher than that. I didn't jot it down, but if memory serves, it was something like $3.76.

Even though we'd been listening to a news channel, where discussion was all about when Ike would hit and where, I found myself again wondering why gas would be so expensive in this little corner of the world. I chalked it up to lower volume and less competition.

By the time we left, the price of gas at the aforementioned station had broken $3.80. And along the way home, prices had gone up once again.

By that time--mind you, still before Ike had come ashore--there were reports of gasoline shortages in some southern states and prices topping $5 a gallon.

With all this in mind, I figured to find gasoline prices above $4 a gallon when we returned to town.

Imagine my relief to find it could still be had for less than $3.70 in several spots, but still more than 20 cents higher than it had been a scant few hours before.

I'm no business or commodities expert.

But I am typical of the American consumer.

I don't understand why the price of gas jumps even before damage has been done in a storm.

Yes, I heard the newscasters talking about how many of the refineries had to be shut down in anticipation of the storm, and how it would certainly be days before they would come back online.

I get how that might send prices up a little--but more than half a dollar in some places before we even knew exactly what Ike was packing?

Seems a stretch, especially with crude oil prices dipping to a recent low.

I don't question owners of local gas stations or the companies that supply the fuel. It just seems to me to be a messed-up pricing system that often is affected by headlines, emotion and perception instead of fact.

I think I share the feelings of many consumers when I say that prices in recent years, especially over $4 a gallon, change the way we see things.

We're tired of being held--quite literally--over a barrel. It's to the point when we'd rather pay these prices, maybe a little more, for any alternative fuel that kept dollars on this side of the ocean.

One nice side benefit: Plants for alternative fuels, or to generate juice for tomorrow's electric cars, could and would need to be built all over the country.

Meaning a single storm like mean ol' Ike couldn't swoop in and send prices through the roof in one evening.

Rob Hedelt: 540/374-5415
Email: rhedelt@freelancestar.com