Gas Prices Jump To More Than $9 In Alaska Town

[heathen]

The whole discussion here seems to be sidestepping the issue that somebody (Crowley?) screwed up and didn't barge enough fuel in last year before freeze up to get through the winter. Whoever made that call takes the blame for fly-in fuel prices and should (in an ideal world) get the tab for the excess cost paid by individuals and businesses in McGrath, as well as whatever government subsidies that directly resulted from the blunder.

[tigre79]

Originally Posted by heathen

The whole discussion here seems to be sidestepping the issue that somebody (Crowley?) screwed up and didn't barge enough fuel in last year before freeze up to get through the winter. Whoever made that call takes the blame for fly-in fuel prices and should (in an ideal world) get the tab for the excess cost paid by individuals and businesses in McGrath, as well as whatever government subsidies that directly resulted from the blunder.

A couple of questions about that: was less fuel brought in this year than in past years or was more used this year? And if so what was responsible for that? We don't live in a perfect world where everyone has an exact understanding of market forces. Estimates are made and sometimes they're wrong. In order for someone to be liable I would think they would have to be shown to have been negligent in some way, or to have purposefully underestimated the fuel needs of the community. Otherwise, it's just an unfortunate situation, but that doesn't mean anyone in particular is at fault.

[Moose Whisperer]

Originally Posted by heathen

The whole discussion here seems to be sidestepping the issue that somebody (Crowley?) screwed up and didn't barge enough fuel in last year before freeze up to get through the winter. Whoever made that call takes the blame for fly-in fuel prices and should (in an ideal world) get the tab for the excess cost paid by individuals and businesses in McGrath, as well as whatever government subsidies that directly resulted from the blunder.

Maybe...that could be possible. It may also be possible that Crowley completely filled their storage tanks to capacity and couldn't bring any more in. Or it even may be that they are limited to some maximum amount of fuel they are allowed to store on site by their contract, or by some environmental impact study. There's allot we just don't know.

I do know that if I lived out there and saw what was happening last year, I probably would have quietly stockpiled a few hundred gallons of fuel on my own property somewhere.