Gas prices surpass $2 per gallon in Maine Average costs up 12 cents in a week

Just in time for tourist season, Maine gas prices have reached all-time highs, up by as much as 12 cents a gallon on average from only a week ago. Prices are highest in the northern and coastal areas of the state.

Some drivers are paying more than $2 per gallon for regular gas in Presque Isle and Calais.

According to AAA spokeswoman Rene Letourneau in Portland, the average price statewide per gallon of unleaded gasoline was $1.83 Thursday. But mainegasprices.com, a Web site that relies on volunteer spotters to generate trends in gas prices, had Maine’s average at $1.89, an increase of 12 cents over last week.

Letourneau said Bangor’s average, at $1.85, was up nearly 9 cents from a month ago.

Letourneau said prices in the Northeast are actually lower than in other parts of the country.

“It’s definitely worthwhile for motorists to comparison shop,” she said, predicting that prices will continue to jump.

AAA doesn’t keep numbers from points north of Bangor, but in Presque Isle, most stations were selling regular gasoline for $2.01.9 a gallon at noon Thursday. The same price was spotted at an Irving gas station in Houlton. At a station in Edmundston, New Brunswick, the price of gasoline was $3.40 a gallon in Canadian currency, or about $2.40 American.

Mark Yaeger, a full-time substitute teacher in Presque Isle, said prices have been fluctuating so much that it’s difficult to keep track.

“I have a friend who works at a family pump [in Presque Isle] and he said his station will open at one price and close at a completely different price,” Yaeger said. “Yesterday, he said regular unleaded was $2.04 per gallon when they opened and down to $1.94 when they closed.”

At the national level, tension reached a head Thursday morning when Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Pete Domenici, R-N.M., delivered a speech before the U.S. Senate pleading for legislative action to control prices.

“Nationwide, the average price of gasoline is $1.84 and is expected to rise 5 to 10 cents over the next several days and even more as we enter the summer driving season, which begins with the Memorial Day holiday.” Domenici said in his speech. “I don’t know what sort of psychological barrier needs to be broken for the Senate to finally pass comprehensive energy legislation.”

According to gaspricewatch.com, a national gas trend Web site, the highest reported prices in the United States were in Davis, Calif., at $2.79 per gallon. The lowest prices bottomed at $1.58 in Clifton, N.J.

Back in Maine, from Waldoboro to Belfast, gasoline prices at Maritime Farms Convenience Stores were all the same, company spokesman Bob Duke said Thursday, ranging from $1.89 for the lowest octane, to $2.09 for high octane.

Duke predicts gasoline prices will rise another dime before they begin to decline. Just this week, Maritime’s cost for gasoline rose 9 cents, he said, which is “very unusual … that’s just absolutely unheard of.”

“We’re kind of in the same boat as consumers,” Duke said. “High prices hurt us, so we like low prices.”

Calais residents want to know why they are paying higher prices at the pumps compared with other communities in the state. It now costs border town drivers $2.01 to fill up at the Irving station on North Street. But at the two filling stations next to the Ferry Point Bridge that connects Calais with St. Stephen, New Brunswick, the price is $1.99 a gallon. The same gas costs $1.94 in Pembroke, $1.96 in Whiting and $1.99 in Princeton.

Calais City Councilor Nancy Gillis said Thursday that when city officials inquired in the past why gasoline prices were higher in her area than in other places, they were told it was because of transportation costs. Gillis said she believes it is time to ask Gov. John Baldacci to look into it.

“We would like to have them explain what they mean by higher transportation costs,” she said. “We are very concerned because a lot of people now are buying just enough gas to get to Bangor and then they fill up, so I don’t think it is doing any of our local businesses any favors.”

Though high gasoline costs tend to be linked to a decrease in travel, Letourneau said Maine AAA isn’t experiencing any decrease. Consumers are just keeping efficiency a little more in mind.

“People are definitely trending toward staying closer to home or planning a one-week vacation rather than two weeks, but numbers are steady,” she said.

The Associated Press and NEWS reporters Beurmond Banville, Leanne M. Robicheau and Diana Graettinger contributed to this report.