Gas prices spike
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, September 14, 2005
SOUTH POINT — Motorists pulled up to local gas stations this morning. Some of them cussed the pumps, while others just shook their heads in disbelief.
“This is unbelievable,” said Peggy Trobeaux of Rome Township. “I knew I should’ve gotten gas yesterday, but I tried to make it one more day hoping that prices would go down.”
She was wrong.
Gas prices soared to more than $3 a gallon Wednesday afternoon. In Lawrence County, prices averaged about $3.05, according to figures from AAA.
Huntington, W.Va., recorded prices as high as $3.12. Boyd and Greenup counties in Kentucky recorded the lowest local prices and, as of this morning, prices still remained at about $2.90.
AAA has predicted that those prices will hit the $3 mark this week, as well.
“I’m upset. It makes me mad that all the oil executives are making money off us working people that have to pay the high prices,” Trobeaux said as she filled up at a local Speedway station. “It’s not these local guys that make the prices, I know that. They just have to do what the big guys tell them to do.”
Last week, the average price for a gallon of gas in Southern Ohio was $2.78. A year ago, motorists paid about $2.20 at the pump.
“This is crazy,” Chesapeake resident Bill Edmonds said, throwing in a few expletives. “I never saw nothing like it. I’m so sick of coming to the gas station and nearly having a heart attack.”
His compact car is relatively easy on gas, he explained. But, his tractor and his 4-wheel drive pick-up he uses on his farm are what he terms “gas guzzlers.”
“People that have SUVs and trucks are going to go broke. They aren’t going to be able to drive anywhere. They can drive into town, but that’s going to be about it,” he said while pumping in $35 of gas into his car.
Although gas prices may be the highest the region has seen in recent years, motorists say they are not likely to change their driving habits.
Dallas Damron, of Flatwoods, Ky., drives to Sybene each weekday for work. She also attends church in Huntington. She spends about $100 every 10 days to fill up her mini-van. It will probably be even more now that the gas prices are apparently on the rise.
“It’s not going to change the way I drive,” Damron said. “I think people will still drive. Its just what people are used to.”
Kermit Sparks agreed, saying people who are planning vacations or even local camping trips are at the mercy of the oil companies.
He said, “You have to drive. What else are you going to do?”