Posted on: Saturday, October 9, 2004

State's average gasoline price hits $2.37

Advertiser Staff

The statewide average price for regular gasoline hit a record $2.37 a gallon, according to a survey released yesterday by the AAA travel club. Hawai'i's average remained the highest in the nation.

Honolulu's average price rose to a record $2.278 a gallon, raising the statewide average.

Higher gasoline costs are just one way in which crude-oil price increases are filtering through Hawai'i's economy.

This week ocean shippers Matson Navigation Co. and Horizon Lines announced plans to increase a fuel surcharge to 9.2 percent from 8.8 percent beginning Oct. 18. That will be the third time they have raised fuel surcharges this year — a move that increases the cost of goods shipped to Hawai'i.

Higher crude-oil costs also result in higher costs for fuel oil used by Hawaiian Electric Co. to generate electricity. In June the typical electric bill for homes in Honolulu was 10 cents higher at $93.11 vs. $92.53 in June 2003, because of an increase in surcharges to cover rising fuel oil costs, according to HECO. It could not provide more recent figures.

A rise in energy costs coupled with soaring housing costs drove inflation up 3.3 percent during the first half of this year — the highest level since 1992.