aaa gas prices

							July 29, 2008
The Times-Georgian

Local gas prices have fallen, but not enough to please motorists
John P. Boan

Janet Hyde fills up a container for a friend whose car ran out of gas on Monday at the
Kangaroo Gas Station on Maple Street. 'Every few cent makes a difference' Hyde said.
Following the national trend, the price of gas in Georgia continued to drop Monday,
though local consumers and retailers alike say it hasn’t fallen enough to make much of a
difference in the check book or the bottom line.

According to the AAA gas survey, the average per-gallon price in the state has dipped
from a peak of just over $4 in early July to $3.92 over the weekend.

By late Monday, the average price had fallen even further to $3.89 a gallon.

Despite the slow and steady decline, some Carroll County residents said it is still too high
for comfort, and unless it drops significantly by the end of the summer, they’ll be forced
to trade their wheels for their own two feet.

“It’s taking all of my extra income so that I can’t get my tobacco products,” said Lizze
Dobbs. “I used to have some money during the month, $5 or $10, so I could get me a
hamburger. But now I have to spend it all on gas. I don’t care which way it goes. Unless
it drops a dollar or two, it ain’t doing me no good.”

And area gas stations are also slow to celebrate the recent drop.

Amanda Cole, manager at the Kangaroo Express on Maple Street in Carrollton, said gas
sales have actually gone down in the last few days.

Her explanation: the cost of a fill-up is still relatively high, and people simply haven’t
noticed the pennies that have fallen from the price.

“People aren’t expecting the gas to drop or aren’t noticing it,” she said. “If people can’t
get out to see that the gas prices are down, they’re just not going to know.”

While the high gas prices have kept customers from topping off, opting instead to put
smaller and smaller amounts in their tank at a time, they’ve also pushed the price of the
store’s food items up. The higher price of a candy bar coupled with the shrinking amount
of money patrons have to spend on snacks and convenience items has hurt the store
financially in recent months, she said. She hopes the recent drop in gas prices might be
the first sign of relief for an industry that has suffered through a long and brutal summer.

“We always hope for better business,” she said. “I guess we’ll see.”
Experts say she might be right. AAA is predicting that gas could continue to drop as
much as another 25 cents by Labor Day in response to the unexpected decrease in crude
oil prices. A barrel of light, sweet crude peaked at $147 earlier just over two weeks ago
on the New York Mercantile Exchange, but since that time has fallen to as low as
$123.26 last Friday.

“People think [the prices] are low because of how high they were, and they’re still high
prices for me,” said Carroll County resident Tracy Roberts. “I’m downsizing to a little
pickup truck to try and get better gas mileage. Besides that there’s not much you can do
besides suck it up and pay it.”