Drivers lament rising cost of gasoline

May 25, 2007

By Hannah Guillaume

Frontiersman

MAT-SU - Drivers buying fuel this week say $50 to $100 for a full tank of gas is making them run on empty.

&#8220I don't fill it up, because I don't have $70 to throw in it,” said Jim Akers, a Palmer resident who was getting less than half a tank of regular gas for $2.99 a gallon at Turner's Corner on Palmer-Fishhook Road. &#8220I don't even look at the prices anymore. You can get as mad as you want. You still gotta go places.”

He said he stopped paying attention to gas prices this time last year to reduce his anger level.

Drivers paid an average of $2.84 a gallon for self-serve regular unleaded fuel when Akers quit looking. According to the federal Energy Information Administration fuel forecast, this summer's average gallon will cost $3.01.

This week's West Coast average, not including California, was about $3.26.

Dianne Wirtanen, a Palmer resident, said the inflation effects her more than most people. She said she needs the gas to transport a boy she cares for who has Seckel syndrome, or bird-like dwarfism who lives for riding on four-wheelers.

As she filled a red gas can, Wirtanen said rising fuel costs are putting an end to their outdoor excursions. She paid $14.97 for about 5 gallons.

&#8220It's lame, and I wish it wasn't so,” she said. &#8220Getting to go places is a big part of his life.”

Instead of driving with her family to vacation in Michigan this summer, she said she's flying.

&#8220It's looking like it will be cheaper,” she added.

At a Wasilla Chevron on the Parks Highway, Wasilla resident Lisa Sollenberger blushed when she said how much gas she was putting into her Honda Accord.

&#8220It's really bad. Like, I can only afford $3,” Sollenberger said. &#8220It's horrible.”

She was a nickel short of a gallon.

For Kendra Butts, a Wasilla resident, it costs about $80 to fill the tank on her Dodge Ram 1500.

She said if prices continue to rise, she will be selling her truck for a car and is already thinking about walking.

&#8220It costs me more to fill up my truck than pay rent,” Butts said. &#8220I don't go very many places anymore.”

Jim Turner, owner of Turner's Corner in Palmer, has switched fuel providers three times since 1983.

He opened selling gas from Union 76, switched to Chevron, then Tesoro and in 2005 he went with Shell.

Turner said three months ago it cost $24,000 for 12,000 gallons of fuel. Now he pays $33,000 for the same amount.

The inflation, he said, &#8220is a pain in the ass.”

&#8220Our situation now is almost identical to last year at this time,” Turner said. &#8220It makes it tough to run a small business when the price rises like that. I have to come up with more money to make the same.”

Despite the inflation, he said his customers have continued to purchase the same amount of fuel.

He noted that it's the candy bars that stop selling when fuel goes up to more than $3 gallon.

Contact Hannah Guillaume at 352-2250 or by e-mail at

hannahguillaume@yahoo.com.