California, Sacramento Gas Prices Head Toward $4 Mark

Diana Curtaz has seen what we’re in for, and it’s not pretty.

Heading home to Sacramento from a family visit in Redding last weekend, Curtaz pulled into a gas station and was hit with $4.09 for gallon of premium unleaded.

The big 4-oh-no.

"I didn’t like that," the schoolteacher and graduate student said. "I only filled enough to get home. Gas is cheaper here."

But not by much.

On Monday, the average price for regular unleaded in Sacramento hit a record $3.78. The California price also set a record at $3.79, according to AAA Fuel Gauge Report.

Some experts say the much-discussed and long-predicted $4-a-gallon bell-ringer day may be mere weeks away.

Curtaz’s $4.09 payment doesn’t count officially. It was for premium gasoline, and gas watchers use regular unleaded fuel as the price marker.

This week’s higher prices have two immediate causes, according to Michael Geeser, spokesman for AAA of Northern California. Refineries are slowing production to switch over to summer gas blends, he said, and investors are bidding up crude oil prices as a hedge against the weak dollar.

The U.S. Department of Energy last week projected national averages could hit $4 this summer, when demand is higher.

Some national polls have indicated more people will make significant changes in their driving when gas prices top $4.

Sacramento Regional Transit officials and Capitol Corridor train operators report ridership numbers are up, and they say gas prices are a factor.

But if Curtaz and other drivers interviewed in recent months are any indication, many Sacramentans have been making small changes in their driving habits for some time, and they expect to do more as gas prices continue to increase.

State gas consumption data from the Board of Equalization bear that out.

After years of hitting the gas pumps hard, Californians have cut back slightly over the past 18 months.

The average California driver, nevertheless, still buys about 60 gallons per month. If drivers keep that up at $4 a gallon, their gas pump tally will be $240.

Janice Schaefers has changed her ways. She leaves her Dodge Ram V80 — "the gas guzzler" — at home most days and carpools with her partner to work. Some days, she takes the bus.

But it’s not about saving money. She lives in Land Park, not much more than a mile from her downtown job.

It’s about doing the right thing, she said. She is among many consumers upset with what she sees as intransigence by government and the oil industry in the face of long-standing problems with American gas use.

"What’s happened since the 1970s (oil crisis) when we were supposed to take care of this problem?" she asked. "Why are we still reliant on other countries?"

Comments like those rise quickly in many conversations about gas prices.

State worker Joe Sahagun of south Sacramento says he’s aggravated by how many cars still get poor gas mileage. American automobile gas efficiency figures have barely improved in decades.

"I don’t know why they aren’t making cars more fuel-efficient," he said.

Sahagun drives a Ford Taurus that gets, he thinks, about 22 miles per gallon, slightly better than the national average.

He’s adjusting by carpooling with a group of soccer parents to their kids’ games. But Sahagun is also considering bigger changes.

He recently rented a Toyota Prius and averaged about 48 miles per gallon, he said. He, like Schaefers, would consider buying a hybrid gas-electric vehicle.

"That’s the future," Sahagun said.

Rising gas prices amount to a serious pocketbook issue for lower wage earners, as well as younger and older drivers.

Bernard Richardson is 79 and works at a shoeshine stand in midtown Sacramento.

"I’m keeping the little wolf from the door," he said.

But, the combination of higher gas prices and higher medical prescription payments makes it harder to spend money on the fun things in life, he admitted.

"You gotta have some enjoyment in life, you’re gonna have some vices," he said. "I used to say I just want enough for some gas and a pack of cigarettes."

"Now," he said with a rueful laugh, "I have to cut that stuff out to put gas in my car."