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Runaway Prices at the Pump

Pawn Shops Report Brisk Business

By Joe Benton
ConsumerAffairs.com

April 21, 2006
Gasoline prices are closing in on $3 a gallon throughout the country as the national average price for regular unleaded gasoline is now $2.86 a gallon and rising. That's up 7 cents in just three days. In Wisconsin, pawn shops report brisk business as residents hock their goods to raise money for gas.

One month ago regular unleaded gasoline sold for $2.51 a gallon. One year ago, regular unleaded averaged $2.22 a gallon.

Diesel fuel prices are also climbing with the average price now at $2.87 a gallon. That's a 6-cent jump in three days. One month ago, the average selling price was $2.66 a gallon. One year ago, it was $2.35 a gallon.

Kirkwood, California, has the most expensive gasoline in the land. A gallon of regular unleaded gasoline costs $3.57 in Kirkwood. Drivers in Murray, Utah enjoy the lowest price for regular gasoline at $2.26 a gallon.

Here is a look at some gasoline prices from around the country. The trend is the same everywhere -- up.

Los Angeles: Throughout Southern California, the sudden price hike was met with a mixture of anger and disbelief. California's average cost for self-serve regular-grade gasoline is now $3.015 a gallon.

The state average is up 3 cents in three days and 34.2 cents from a month ago. Prices, however, are still short of the record $3.054 a gallon set September 9 in the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Wisconsin: Prices at the pump are nearing $3 a gallon, if not exceeding that, in some parts of Wisconsin The average price statewide is now $2.88 a gallon.

In Milwaukee, some stations have a gallon of gasoline at $3.09.

The price hikes have caused some Wisconsinites to improvise in order to fill their tanks. In the south-central part of the state, some Madison-area pawn shop owners are reporting an increase in business, claiming that some people are selling belongings to get extra money to cover the price increase.

Texas: Retail gasoline prices continued to skyrocket this week.

The AAA Texas gasoline price survey finds that regular self-serve gasoline prices average $2.83 per gallon statewide, 10 cents more than last week and 71 cents more than last year.

Dallas prices remained the state's highest at $2.90 cents per gallon, 9 cents more than last week, while San Antonio had the cheapest gas at $2.76 per gallon, 11 cents more than last week, the survey found.

Nevada: What used to be a 20-dollar trip to the gas pump now is a 30-dollar fill-up as gasoline prices edge ever closer to three dollars a gallon in the Reno area.

That would put prices in line with last year's records.

Minnesota: Gas prices are rising and most industry analysts predict they will go higher, much higher, before the summer is over. Minnesotans now face $2.81 gas prices, up 7 cents in just one day.

With gas stations raising their prices daily to reflect their costs from suppliers, Minnesotans will be facing a daily surprise at the gas pump in the days and weeks ahead.

Vermont: The likelihood that rising fuel prices will be a hot political topic this year was underscored candidates for federal office made statements and traded barbs on the issue.

U.S. House candidate Peter Welch, the Democratic president pro tem of the Vermont Senate, took aim at the federal government's recent forgiveness of royalties it had collected from oil and natural gas firms drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.

The remarks came a day after Rep. Bernard Sanders,, an independent candidate for the U.S. Senate, called on President Bush to call an "emergency energy summit" to address sharply increasing fuel prices.

Gasoline prices at some Vermont stations topped $2.80 per gallon.

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