Gas Price Outrage!

[Trumpetmaster]

...Our electric average is about $225 a month and we always wind up "under" the power companies estimates...

I just paid my gas & electric bill. It was just under $37. Y'all check the weather stripping and suchlike recently? And storm windows and thermal shades and stuff like that? Or maybe just move to Sandy Eggo...

yes... all that has been done.
this island is too expensive.......

[Giant Communist Robot]

$4.74 a gallon Lihue, Kauai

[Trumpetmaster]

$4.74 a gallon Lihue, Kauai

my island is not as expensive as your island.... good grief......

[Shapley]

$3.75 per gallon in Cape Girardeau, MO. I'm gald I don't life on an island...

[Haggis@wk]

Last fall the U.S. government’s Energy Information Administration reported a 40 percent decline in oil and natural gas production on federal lands compared to 10 years ago.

The White House protested. They said EIA, a trusted source for reliable energy information, was wrong. They complained that EIA hadn’t accounted for all data from the Department of Interior.

EIA released an updated analysis last week. And while the number isn’t as drastic as originally reported, EIA confirmed the Obama administration is overseeing a sharp decline in fossil fuel production (coal, oil, and natural gas) on federal lands, which recently hit its lowest point in nine years.

The updated EIA report revealed a 12 percent decline in production for coal, oil, and natural gas on federal and Indian lands from fiscal 2003 through fiscal 2011.

During this same period, production on state and private lands has increased, boosting overall production numbers for the United States. That’s a point even President Obama will acknowledge: “Under my Administration, domestic oil and natural gas production is up,” Obama is correct. He just can’t rightfully claim the credit, since the vast majority of America’s new oil and gas production is happening on private lands in states like North Dakota, Alaska and Texas.

The next time Obama claims that he can’t control the price of gas at the pump remember that while that might be true, he’s sure doing what he can to keep it from going down anytime soon.

[Giant Communist Robot]

$4.74 a gallon Lihue, Kauai

my island is not as expensive as your island.... good grief......

On the other hand, I think I may do a lot less driving than you guys. The furthest I can drive from my house is Laie, a distance of about 35 miles. I have no reason to go there. Most of my driving is two miles or less. I have to fill my 40 liter gas tank only once or twice a month.

[Giant Communist Robot]

Our electric average is about $225 a month and we always wind up "under" the power companies estimates.

Our cost per kilowatt is probably the highest in the country, but my bill runs $160 to $200 a month. Most of that is likely due the kids playing on the Wii. I was shocked--shocked--when I saw what Shapley pays.

[Shapley]

I was shocked--shocked--when I saw what Shapley pays.

Well, as I recall, your outside temperature hovers in the 70s and 80s year round, whereas we enjoy a variety ranging from below zero to over 100.

When our temperature hovers in the 70s and 80s, our power used to cost us only about $100/month, though that is rare.

Heat and Air are our biggest factors, although the hot tub and the swimming pool add a bit to the cost.

I'm planning on replacing my water heater soon. I've determined that the lower element is burned out, and that the unit runs excessively while maintaining a minimum volume of hot water. The Calcium deposits on the water heater cause burn-out of the elements (usually the lower one) - this is because electric water heaters boil the water around the element, causing Calcium to accumulate on the elements, reducing their ability to transfer heat. They eventually overheat and fail.
The upper element is less efficient, because it heats less water (the water in the bottom remains tepid, at best. Also, the Calcium deposits reduce the volume of the water heater tank, making the whole thing less efficient.

I expect to save the cost of the water heater in utility costs in a couple of months. I'll try to remember to post some figures once I've had time to measure the impact.

[Giant Communist Robot]

Well, as I recall, your outside temperature hovers in the 70s and 80s year round, whereas we enjoy a variety ranging from below zero to over 100.

Looks like you don't have natgas. We don't either. Too bad, as it's become so cheap. Here we don't have heating, and don't run air conditioning as we catch the trade winds--we just keep our windows open. Our biggest electrical usage is the water heater, followed by the clothes dryer and then the TVs.

Our gasoline and electricity apparently have the highest cost in the nation, but I think we use a lot less than the mainland.

[Shapley]

Being in the boondocks, gas lines do not run through our neck of the woods. When I was on the Tamms Village Board, we had the responsibility of cutting service to delinquent gas service customers. At that time, gas was an extremely expensive option compared to electricity. The cost of gas itself was not high, but every community through which the service lines passed tack on a 'transportation fee'. By the time gas arrived in tiny Tamms, IL, the transportation fees could easily match or exceed the cost of the gas itself.

Nor were the fees fixed, as the village shopped for gas suppliers, the route through which it was transported (and the fees associated therewith) varied depending on the supply source. It was a racket, IMHO.

The one large industrial concern in the city switched from natural gas to propane. The price of propane was higher, but there were no hidden transportation fees attached. When they called the propane supplier, he quoted them a price for a truckload of propane, and that was the price they paid. The village was very unhappy with the move, but it saved them thousands.

I have a small propane tank at the house, with serves the vent-free fireplace we bought a few years ago. We rarely use it, and I considered tapping the propane to heat a water heater, instead. gas-heated water heaters do not suffer from localized boiling, in the manner an electric unit does. Thus, neither the Methane nor the Calcium (both inherent in our local groundwater) come out of solution to stink up and gum up the works.

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

Paid $4.19 a gallon at Costco, yesterday.

[Trumpetmaster]

Here's a solution.....


http://now.msn.com/now/0327-poo-ricksha ... r-zoo.aspx

Pro's - We have an abundance of this...
Con's - You would need plenty of air freshners....

[Shapley]

That's a good ol' Tuk-Tuk. I think they can run on anything...

[Haggis@wk]

That's a good ol' Tuk-Tuk. I think they can run on anything...

From painful memories in Bangkok I know they can damn near run OVER anything!!!

$3.81 at SAM'S $3.89 everywhere else

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

$4.19 / gal. last night at Costco. I put $54 in Ethyl's tank and was NOT happy about it!

[Trumpetmaster]

Filled my Subaru Forester the other day....

Gas Prices range for Premium $4.20 - $4.40
Gas Prices range for Regular $4.02 - $4.15

I live about 15 miles from work. If the roads here were safer (drivers are absolutely insane here) I would buy a bike and pedal my way to work.
It would get me in good shape as well.

[jamiebk]

Costs me about $70.00 to fill my 15-16 gal tank these days. Prices are in the $4.50 range in NorCal. More in San Fran itself.

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

...If the roads here were safer (drivers are absolutely insane here) ...

Could be worse. Friend of mine grew up in Manila and learned to drive there. Won't go to Tijuana because of the bad drivers. Thousands of those folks from Tijuana work here, come across every day.

We get the feeling that they consider oncoming traffic an insignificant scenic detail, and traffic lights to be decorative only.

[jamiebk]

...If the roads here were safer (drivers are absolutely insane here) ...

Could be worse. Friend of mine grew up in Manila and learned to drive there. Won't go to Tijuana because of the bad drivers. Thousands of those folks from Tijuana work here, come across every day.

We get the feeling that they consider oncoming traffic an insignificant scenic detail, and traffic lights to be decorative only.

I was in Manila a couple of times and dared to take a charter bus to and from the southern tip of the island. OMG....there were several times when the driver actually started driving on shoulder (at full speed) and a couple of those times he barely missed people standing there...never slowed down... just swooped over there almost like he was aiming at them. I was terrified we'd hit them. Oh, yeah...that was AFTER the bus caught fire. But that was another story.

[Shapley]

I paid $3.78 to fill my rental car near the Dallas/Ft. Worth Airport yesterday morning at the Quick Trip in Euless. It was $4.39 on the airport grounds.

We flew down to Dallas Friday evening to attend a funeral in Mineral Wells on Saturday morning. We flew back out on Easter Sunday morning, beating the storms by just a few minutes, from what he heard. We arrived in St. Louis at noon, with enough time to drive to my mothers for Easter Dinner.

Gas prices in Cape Girardeau, MO, have dropped to $3.69 from $3.78 last Friday.