In a Sunday expose, Empire reporter James Brooks explained to Juneau residents why they’re paying more at the pump than residents in Anchorage, Seattle and across the Lower 48 states.
Knowing why Juneau residents are paying $1 per gallon more than the national average is one thing. Figuring out how to change that trend is another. But the solution appears quite clear from where we’re sitting: Buy gasoline where it’s cheapest.
Gasoline at Fred Meyer and Fishermen’s Bend will be worth the extra trip for many Juneau families. On Monday, Fred Meyer dropped its gasoline prices by $1, and Fishermen’s Bend in Auke Bay previously had been the cheapest place in town to fuel up, selling fuel at about 30 cents cheaper than everywhere else in town.
If Juneau’s drivers demonstrate that they’re unwilling to pay for $3 regular unleaded and boycott the businesses that charge that much, it will force those same businesses to rethink their supply and demand models.
As Brooks reported, there are many factoring driving high fuel prices in Juneau, including geographic isolation, few large fuel purchasers and a lack of competition. For smaller, privately owned gas stations, it makes more sense that their costs would be higher. Juneau’s two largest fuel purchasers Safeway and Fred Meyer, which pay less because they operate under long-term contracts, never returned our calls while reporting on the story. Whether coincidence or not, it caught us by surprise Tuesday when Fred Meyer reduced gas prices by more than 30 percent overnight. Still, we can’t say for sure why their prices were so high before without playing the guessing game.
Juneau residents can’t control the price at the pump, but they can decide where they pump. And if enough drivers say no to $3 per gallon fuel, other gas stations will have to decide whether to decrease prices or experience decreased profits.
