Hawaii’s statewide average price for a gallon of regular gas dipped a fraction of a cent Friday to $5.118 from the all-time average high of $5.122 set Thursday, according to AAA.
This offered little reprieve to Hawaii motorists bemoaning gas prices that are among the highest in the nation, second only to California, which Friday topped the country with a gallon of regular costing $5.80, compared with the national average of $4.274.
The rising cost of fuel, including the price of electricity, prompted Hawaii County Mayor Mitch Roth to ask Gov. David Ige to declare an energy emergency, especially since he says that more than half his community falls in the category of “ALICE” — asset- limited, income-constrained and employed — and they will be particularly hurt.
He said the boycott on Russian crude oil will have a disproportionately negative impact on Hawaii, since the state had relied heavily on it.
Roth wrote Ige on Thursday, reiterating his verbal request from Monday, to fast-track renewable energy projects under review by the Public Utilities Commission, he said.
He recommends the PUC hear renewable energy projects within 60 days and, if the commission finds the required criteria met, that it approve the application for the project.
The mayor told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Friday that many projects have been awaiting decisions for years, some for as many as five years, from anecdotal evidence.
He said 60% of the island’s energy is from renewable fuels, but nearly 40% of his county’s electricity is from fossil fuels. But if renewable energy projects — wind, solar, biofuel and geothermal — could be fast-tracked, it could save millions of dollars and prevent hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil from being burned.
The mayor said his county is trying to do its part in speeding things up, changing its fleets to hydrogen and electric buses and cars, making sure EV charging stations are up and running. Its first hydrogen bus is on a barge heading for the Big Island.
The governor’s office said in an emailed response to the Star-Advertiser’s request for comment that expediting PUC decisions on renewable energy projects would not address the immediate challenges, as each of the projects would have additional steps following a PUC decision before it could be brought online.
“A more immediate solution would be to tackle Hawaii County’s backlog of solar and battery storage permit applications,” the email said.
Gov. Ige said in his appearance Monday on the Star-Advertiser’s “Spotlight Hawaii” livestream program that the restriction on Russian oil shouldn’t have an impact on the cost of gas, so “we’re encouraging gas and oil refiners to refrain from raising prices at this time.”
He said that he is “concerned about suspending the fuel tax because we’re already struggling to meet the demands of highways and roadways here in the state of Hawaii.”
Barnaby Robinson, owner of Texaco stations in Kahala and Nuuanu, said, “I never thought I’d see the day when the price of gas would be $5 a gallon.”
He recalls that “momentous occasion” of about two weeks ago.
He said the biggest indicator of the retail price of gas is the barrel price of crude oil, but it’s the supplier that dictates the changes in price. “We just went down 10 cents today,” he said.
But the gas station owner signs a lease with the company. “We set our own prices based on economics,” Robinson said. That includes location, services, volume of gas sold and so on.
“The smaller station may have less gallons to spread the cost,” he said. “The cost of doing business is going up, but the government is getting a windfall on the 4.5% general excise taxes on $5 instead of $4.”
State metro averages were lowest in Honolulu at $5.017 and highest in Kahului at $5.294, with Kauai ($5.271) and Hilo ($5.148) not far behind, according to AAA.
But a Kailua Shell sign at the corner of Oneawa Street and Kuulei Road erroneously posted that a gallon of regular was $5.99, causing potential customers to experience sticker shock.
“It scared people away,” said manager Tammy Villamor. “It’s $4.99. We went down 6 cents today,” from Thursday’s $5.05.
The error was due to a malfunctioning pole, said Villamor, who could not remove the “5” tile to replace it with a “4” and had to call for help.
The sign, however, may be prophetic as prices have been climbing dramatically since Russia, a former supplier of crude oil to Hawaii, attacked Ukraine. Just a month ago the average price of gas in Hawaii was $4.503, a 61-cent difference.
On March 3 the owner of Hawaii’s oil refinery announced it had stopped its purchases of Russian crude oil.
Par Hawaii’s parent company, Par Pacific Holdings Inc. of Houston, said it is turning to other sources of crude oil, including North and South America, to meet Hawaii’s needs. About a fourth of Hawaii’s crude oil in 2021 came from eastern Russia.
Par Hawaii’s president had said earlier this month that oil and gasoline prices are expected to climb, and fuel prices are driven primarily by global oil markets.
Hawaiian Electric Co., which bought 338 million gallons of fuel oil in 2021 from Par Hawaii, said it has been given assurance its supply of oil won’t be affected by the switch to alternative sources of oil.
Mayor Roth has encouraged Hawaii island residents to be a little greener by conserving fuel in different ways, including composting food waste to avoid hauling so much trash to the dump, and growing vegetables to reduce reliance on food that is shipped with high fuel costs.
Motorists shopping for the cheapest gas might want to consult GasBuddy.com, which allows one to check gas prices. Costco Waipio had the least costly gas Friday at $4.55 a gallon.
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PAIN AT THE PUMP
Average price per gallon of regular in Hawaii
$5.118 — As of Friday
$4.841 — March 11
$4.503 — March 4
$3.580 — March 18, 2021
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Average gas prices
For regular unleaded as of Friday
>> National: $4.274, $3.528 (a month ago)
>> Hawaii: $5.118, $4.503 (a month ago)
>> Hilo: $5.148
>> Honolulu: $5.017
>> Kahului: $5.294
>> Lihue: $5.271
Source: gasprices.aaa.com
