Got Gas?

What do high gas prices mean for Kosciusko County consumers?

Fury.

Consumers are left with no choice but to pay the price asked for gas or find alternative forms of transportation.

Prices for regular unleaded gasoline hovered around $1.80 per gallon Wednesday in the Warsaw area. By this morning, the prices were mostly the same.

Sells Oil Co., Silver Lake, has just hiked their gas prices up another 13 cents. Owner Mike Sells' father and employee, Duane Sells, said gas was $1.819 per gallon for regular unleaded.

"We're $1.81 right now and we just got gasoline at noon, so we had to raise the prices," Sells said Wednesday.

Sells said their gas comes from Gast Fuel & Service Inc., Warsaw.

Sells also said he pays whatever the tanker charges.

"They tell you what it costs you," Sells said. "We try to make 10, 12, 14 cents (per gallon) because the higher it gets the more we have to raise the prices to make a profit."

But who's making the larger profit: gas stations or the gas services that sell to the gas stations?

Start asking about money and profit and people stop talking.

When Sells was asked what Gast sells the gas to them for, he replied: "I don't think that's anybody's business!"

Sells said he "oughta have 10 cents (profit)," but he wasn't getting it.

"It (the money) is better off in the bank," Sells said. "It's disgusting.

"I'm just really ticked off at the whole ordeal," he said. "I don't really care to discuss this."

Gast Fuel & Service Inc. also refused to discuss gas prices or distribution. In fact, they refused to discuss anything at all.

When asked to speak to someone who could explain the gas distribution and price process, Gast Fuel employees who could be of assistance all seemed to have "slipped out of the office."

When questioned further for a name and time to reach a Gast Fuel representative, the woman who answered the phone at Gast Fuel replied: "I'm not sure anyone wants to talk to a reporter."

Those who will talk are consumers - consumers filled with fury.

"I don't like it," Shell employee Susan Stanton said. Stanton works at the Shell station on the corner of Detroit and Center streets, Warsaw. She said that since Monday, gas prices have increased twice. As of Wednesday, gas at Shell on Detroit and Center streets cost $1.829 per gallon, a 15-cent increase between Monday and Wednesday.

Stanton also said she doesn't travel as much because she can't afford the high prices.

Stanton is not alone.

Amy Metcalf, an employee at the Shell station on U.S. 30, at the east side of Warsaw, also said she doesn't like it.

Metcalf said she travels only "to work and back." She said "you can't go anywhere" because the prices are so high. Metcalf also said customers complain a lot about gas prices.

"They think it's our fault," she said.

"I work here and I can't afford gas," said another Shell employee who wished to remain anonymous.

Karen McClellan, an employee at Marathon on U.S. 30, said she is used to customers complaining about the gas prices.

"They think we're making a larger profit," McClellan said. But, she said that just wasn't true.

Marathon raised their gas prices 13 cents between Monday and Wednesday. The price of gas Wednesday was $1.79 per gallon there.

Consumer Bob Saylor was pumping gas at the Marathon station.

"It's inexcusably high," he said. "It's an attempt for the oil companies to make more money."

Saylor also said he believes it's getting out of hand and "it's going to affect the economy" negatively.

Toni Clayton, also pumping gas, overheard Marathon employees talking about customers' complaints.

"I don't think it's their fault," Clayton said of the employees. "I feel really bad for them."

Clayton said many gas station employees have been getting "rattled" about gas prices. She also said the high gas prices discourage her and her family from traveling anywhere.

Other gas stations in Warsaw are just as high. Phillips 66, Sunoco and Citgo, all on Center Street, were selling gas Wednesday for $1.799, $1.819 and $1.799 respectively.

Prices in Elkhart are a little better, although still high.

Shell Car Wash, Elkhart, is only making a profit of 1.1 cents per gallon.

Dale Brooks, part-owner of the station, said as of Tuesday, his cost was $1.748 per gallon. Brooks is selling it at $1.759 per gallon.

But Sells, in Silver Lake told the Times-Union that "it costs thousands of dollars for pumps" and equipment. He said Sells Oil Co. is actually losing money.

Whether or not gas stations are losing money is debatable. Someone who is losing money, is consumers. But there is help out there for them.

Mark Goodin, an Indiana motorist from Carmel, became so annoyed with rising gasoline prices that he created a Web site to give consumers more control at the pump: IndyGas.com

The Web site compares gas prices at hundreds of service stations in Indianapolis, Carmel, Fishers, Noblesville, Greenfield and Greenwood. The site also includes a space to enter the area in which desired coverage exists and will soon be expanded to include other central Indiana cities.

By the end of the month, Goodin hopes to extend the service statewide, eventually expanding to Chicago, Cincinnati and metropolitan areas.

Visitors to the Web site can view the highest, lowest and average prices for each grade of gas in the city and the service stations offering those prices.

They also can plug in their zip code to see what service stations in their area are charging, or plug in the name of a specific gas station to check its prices.

For more information on gas prices and to find gas price comparisons, consumers should log onto these sites: IndyGas.com, starnews.com, wthr.com, aaa.com/news/ (the Automobile Association of America's Web site) and eia.doe.gov/emeu/rtecs/gascosts/index.html (the Department of Energy Web site).

The EPA Transportation and Air Quality Web page also may be helpful. Consumers can find this at: epa.gov/otaq/rfg.htm