Hate to talk gas price again, but...

[Joe Pelonio]

A local Chevron station manager just came in to order some "3"s for
his price sign, and needs to have them by this afternoon. Just thought
I'd share that. I did add $3 each to my price.

[Don Baer]

I did add $3 each to my price.

Well that'll buy you a gallon of gas maybe.

I saw the local Shell station raising their prices on monday. were at $2.93 last time I looked for the lower octane and add a dime for each octane above that.

[Michael Gabbay]

It rained in the Gulf States so the oil companies are ready to jump on a nice 15% increase this week. :D

Last week in the Washington Post there was an article about the price of gas. Basically, over the past year, the refineries, drilling companies and pipelines have all increased their profit margins by at least 50%. :eek: The gas stations had a .4% profit increase in the same time.

Maybe its time for the Dept of Energy to look into this as gouging. :rolleyes:

Mike

[Joe Pelonio]

He told me they mark up the gas 15 cents/gallon and it's based on the "price zone" of which there are 3 zones in this city (Bellevue, WA). That 15 cents, he "says" is before overhead like rent and salaries. I'd like to know more about these "zones", but that's all he would say and acted like he'd said too much. I guess it's not so much supply and demand as how much people in an area are willing to pay based on their income?

[Vaughn McMillan]

He told me they mark up the gas 15 cents/gallon and it's based on the "price zone" of which there are 3 zones in this city (Bellevue, WA). That 15 cents, he "says" is before overhead like rent and salaries. I'd like to know more about these "zones", but that's all he would say and acted like he'd said too much. I guess it's not so much supply and demand as how much people in an area are willing to pay based on their income?
An odd thing I've noticed around the San Fernando Valley (in Los Angeles) is the gas prices often seem to be higher in the lower-income neighborhoods. I haven't figured out the logic for that one.

I did notice gas prices everywhere I've looked locally are back up about a dime since last week.

- Vaughn

[Michael Perata]

Performance comes at a price. My Cayenne V6 has a 11.5 compresson ratio. 91 octance barely burns without a knock.

I am no longer surprised when I pull up to the Chevron pump and pay 3.299/Gal.

[Michael Perata]

Maybe its time for the Dept of Energy to look into this as gouging.
Mike
Probably better to ask then to start approving refineries at a quicker rate, and from the smaller players.

[Andrew Ault]

I've been cutting down on driving and working to increase mileage in my little truck. I've gone from 17 to 19 MPG to 20 to 23 MPG by changing the way I drive. More importantly, I've decreased the number of gallons per week by also eliminating a lot of short trips and even riding my bike for some things. I've been brown bagging it at work and walking more often during lunch.

I think it is fine and dandy for oil companies to increase profits. But, it is also OK for me to quit buying their product.

In our house we've replaced the water heater, washer and dryer (from electric dryer to Neptune washer and gas dryer) and some other things to reduce the amount of energy we consume. Next we are installing a couple more sunlight tubes (which I really like). My neighbor has been installing PV panels and is running low voltage lines in his house. Instead of an inverter and needing to isolate from the grid, he is converting partially to 12V (including his refrigerator).

Any sort of mainstream thing I can do to save energy (money that is) I'm willing to consider on an ROI basis.

I'm happy to see that Edison and Sempra are building solar power generating facilities in the local deserts (steam, not PV). From what I've read, the cost per Kwh is competitive with other sources that were considered. Every non-petroleum source of energy can reduce demand for imported energy and spend dollars locally. This sort of mix probably will help even out energy costs in the future, I would think.

[Curt Harms]

Probably better to ask then to start approving refineries at a quicker rate, and from the smaller players.
I seem to remember that 15 refiners became 7 or 8 in the merger-crazy late 90's when the Exxon-Mobil, B-P-Amoco etc. mergers were approved . No objections from anti-trust regulators or legislators. I even seem to remember one person at least implying that fewer oil companies/refiners increases competition. Hmmm.

Admins-feel free to delete this if you deem this political. I hope it's not.

Curt

[Don Baer]

Probably better to ask then to start approving refineries at a quicker rate, and from the smaller players.

Since there have been no new refineries built since the early 70's and there are fewer refineries today the there were in the 70's that indeed is a major problem. The demand has increased and the supply has actualy gone down. It's a matter of supply and demand.

[Bill Lewis]

We need to start thinking Bio-Diesel in a big way. Of course then Willie Nelson will be the next Bill Gates.

[Tony Falotico]

Next we are installing a couple more sunlight tubes (which I really like).


Andrew: Is there a web site for the Sunlight Tubes you are using? Do they differ from conventional skylights, and if so, how?

Thanks, Tony

[Jim Becker]

Tony, the sun tubes are wonderful. My parents, who live near you in central FL, have one in their kitchen and they really don't need to use the lights except at night...and if there is a full moon...well...it's often enough! What's nice about these is that they tend to concentrate the available light and are also easier to install than traditional skylights since they are "flexible". You can avoid cutting trusses, etc. They are also physically smaller inside and out in most cases, and that reduces the structural effect as well as making leakproofing easier. You can find ads for them in the back of This Old House Magazine and other similar rennovation/home improvement/building magazines. You may also be able to source them at your local 'borg...they are quite popular in Florida.

[Andrew Ault]

Tony,

There are a couple of makers, but the ones I use are Solatube.

http://www.solatube.com

We have one in our hall bath that incorporates an exhaust fan. When my mom visits she usually comments that she tried to turn the light off, but it was just the skylight.

I like Solatube because they offer good service and carry replacement parts for older models. We just replaced the exhaust fan motor in a ten year old model.

The nice thing is that it floods the room with sunlight, but without glare or heat. I like skylights also, but not for every purpose. I would, however like a skylight in our kitchen, when I remodel it.

- Andy

[Lee Schierer]

Here in NW PA most of our oil actually comes from Canada. It comes south, gets refined and we sell it back to them as gasoline. Last weekend when we were at the Woodstock Wood Show, in Woodstock Ontario we saw prices equalling $3.40-3.50 per U.S. Gallon.

Tuesday night it dropped a dime here locally, then Wednesday about noon it went back up a dime.

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

Hey guys, just a note, I pay about $5.40 a US gallon here in Japan, and have for some time, it only ever goes up here.

Cheers!

[Andrew Ault]

Stu,

So I take it that you don't drive an F-350 doublecab longbed? :)

- Andy

[Dennis Peacock]

How can he drive an F350? There's not any parking spaces left in Tokyo!!!! :eek: :rolleyes: