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Gasoline Prices Skyrocket in Aberdeen

Posted on: Friday, 2 September 2005, 18:00 CDT

Sep. 1--Gasoline prices jumped about 30 cents per gallon to record highs on Wednesday in Aberdeen as experts said the worst is yet to come in terms of Hurricane Katrina's impact on energy prices.

As of late Wednesday, regular unleaded was $2.999 per gallon, the ethanol blend was $2.899 and premium was $3.099.

All are record highs for the city, and Wednesday marked the first time a grade of gasoline surpassed the $3 mark in Aberdeen. Regular unleaded gas first went over the $2 mark in the city less than a year ago, in late October 2004.

Prices in Minnesota hovered between $2.49 and $3.36 per gallon Wednesday afternoon, the Associated Press reported.

In South Dakota the average price for regular unleaded was $2.87 on Wednesday compared to $1.91 a year ago. In North Dakota, it was $2.95 compared to $1.92 a year ago. These figures are from www.northdakotagasprices.com and www.southdakotagasprices.com.

Gas prices leaped nationwide on Wednesday with motorists facing pump prices of more than $3 a gallon in a growing number of markets, according to the Associated Press.

Winter fuel bills: Hurricane Katrina is a factor in the rising prices of gasoline as well as winter heating fuels. Now is the time to start thinking about reducing winter heating costs, said Bob Sahr, a public utilities commissioner for South Dakota. He offers these suggestions:

-- Hire a heating professional to examine your home or business for ways to weatherproof buildings to reduce fuel consumption. Generally, the cost of these examinations and weatherproofing are low compared to the money saved in fuel costs, Sahr said.

-- Change your furnace filter.

-- Consider balanced billing, where the utility company will spread your annual natural gas expenses, for example, over 12 months instead of just the cold months when gas consumption is the highest.

-- If you run into trouble paying your heating bills this winter, contact your supplier immediately. That will improve your chances of working out an arrangement with the supplier.

-- If a utility company announces it will shut off your natural gas, for example, because your bill isn't paid, remember there's a Public Utilities Commission rule that gives you an extra 30 days from the day the utility says the energy will be shut off.

But the rule applies only during the heating season - from Nov. 1 through March 31, Sahr said. The extra 30 days often gives people the ability to make arrangements to get the money to pay the bill, Sahr said.

-- Numerous non-profit agencies help low-income people with heating bills; call on these to see if you qualify, Sahr suggested.

As one example, the state Department of Social Services runs a low-income energy assistance program that can be reached at 1-800-233-8503. Program officials also can point you to other agencies that might be able to help.

-- Feel free to call the PUC at 1-800-332-1782 with any energy-related question, Sahr said. Its Web site, puc.sd.gov, also has considerable useful information available, he said. In particular, the home page has a link to natural gas information for consumers that has some terrific data on the outlook for winter, Sahr said.

The prices for natural gas and petroleum-based heating fuel are rising dramatically in part because of Hurricane Katrina. Where it struck, it disabled most oil refining and natural gas output and pipelines. The area hit by Katrina has many natural gas wells, Sahr said.

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To see more of the American News, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.aberdeennews.com.

Copyright (c) 2005, American News, Aberdeen, S.D.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: American News (Aberdeen, S.D.)

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