Gas Prices Jump To More Than $9 In Alaska Town (Anchorage: sales, power lines)

[RedJacket]

(AP) ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Most Americans are paying about $3 a gallon for gas. The residents of McGrath, Alaska, saw their gas prices jump by that amount in one night.

The price at the only pump in the remote town 415 miles northwest of Anchorage went from $6 a gallon Friday to $9.20 the next day.

Crowley Petroleum Distribution says it was forced to raise the price because the winter nearly drained the town's supply, and the only option was to fly in more fuel.

The cost increase is the difference between flying the gasoline and shipping it on a barge. Crowley says it won't be able to send a barge until June at the earliest.

Some of McGrath's estimated 400 residents have formed an anti-Crowley Facebook page and are trying to boycott the company while city officials look for ways to get cheaper fuel.

Gas Prices Jump To More Than $9 In Alaska Town - CBS News (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/04/28/ap/strange/main6440971.shtml?tag=cbsnewsLeadStoriesAreaMain;c bsnewsLeadStoriesHeadlines - broken link)

They'll have to go from horsepower to dogpower as a means of transportation.

[Captain Crunch]

The community of McGrath has a Message Board, they aren't happy campers up there

McGrath Alaska Community Message Board

[Moose Whisperer]

So how is this any different that a couple years ago when an avalanche cut the power lines and Juneau saw electricity rates increase ten fold when they were forced to fire up the diesels for a couple months? This is Alaska - sh*t happens! Complaining about it doesn't fix anything, and isn't very becoming of the residents either. No one is stopping them from buying their own tanker plane and trying to fly in gas for less than $9 a gallon. My guess is they can't.

[tigre79]

Better to have gas at $9 a gallon than to have no gas at any price, I suppose.

[steel7]

When you live in a remote area in a remote state what do you expect.

[Moose Whisperer]

A good interview based on actual facts, not hysterics:

The Arctic Sounder - McGrath fuel distributor: $9.20 a gallon gas blamed on low river, higher shipping costs (http://www.thearcticsounder.com/article/1017mcgrath_fuel_distributor_920_a_gallon_gas - broken link)

[gobrien]

I agree the price is horrible but fuel price is always a cost build including the freight. Maybe an audit could be performed to ensure the costs and margin were calculated in a fair way, with profit no more than a set amount.

[Captain Crunch]

Maurice... I know your smarter than to believe all that, ya don't think there is any corp spin in there from Bob Cox...?

They would have been smart to have the local rep meet with the community/City Council prior to flying in that 4500 gallons Friday to see what the response was gonna be (which Cox does mention)....what kinda manager is he if he didn't do that in advance of flying in gas...they knew it was gonna raise the price that much

(Bob Cox, vice president of the company's sales in Alaska.) I'd say not very smart actually...

At least that would have lessened the blow as now they have a credibility nightmare on their hands....and the public doesn't get over those kinda things easily.

Scan the link I provided in post #2 over the last few days....look like the community is making other plans for their gas requirements.

Be interesting to see what happens....

[NomadicBear]

This is a good example of what can happen to far flung areas in the event of energy shortages, particularly good old crude oil and it's distillates. High oil and fuel prices can quickly lead to ghost towns.

[dradiin]

None of this would be an issue if the good ole' Feds would allow refineries to be built.