AUGUSTA – Gov. John Baldacci joined an effort by 21 governors this week to seek a federal investigation into high gas prices.

Maine’s statewide average for regular gasoline as of Monday was 23 cents higher than at the same time last year. The current average is $3.09 per gallon and it’s running as high as $3.24 per gallon in parts of northern Maine.

“High gasoline prices trickle through our entire economy,” Baldacci said Wednesday. “A lot of hard-working people in Maine don’t have the luxury of deciding not to drive.”

Mainers “deserve an answer about why gas prices have increased so much while large oil companies are reporting record profits,” he added.

In the letter written by Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell, the governors called on the U.S. House and Senate leadership to launch a federal investigation into the rising cost of gas. In the letter, the governors said, “This is not a simple ‘supply and demand’ issue because gasoline is not a simple commodity. It is a basic necessity.”

In addition, Baldacci asked his Maine Office of Energy Independence and Security to communicate his concerns to the attorney general.

In the latest national survey, the average price of self-serve regular gasoline hit a record high of $3.18, rising more than 11 cents over the past two weeks, according to the Lundberg Survey of 7,000 gas stations across the country.

Nationwide, the lowest average price for regular fuel was $2.87 in Charleston, S.C., and the highest was in Chicago at $3.59 a gallon, according to the survey. In California, regular grade gasoline dropped 2 cents to $3.41.