Denver gasoline prices set a significant record Thursday, an inflation-adjusted high showing that prices are digging deeper than ever into consumer pocketbooks.
A handful of Denver gas stations boosted prices to $3.20 a gallon for regular unleaded, breaking the record after adjusting for inflation.
In March 1981, the national average price was $1.42 a gallon, but in today’s dollars, that would be worth $3.11.
Beating the inflation-adjusted historic high in addition to breaking the psychological threshold of $3 a gallon is a double hit to consumers, said Creighton University economist Ernie Goss.
“People are becoming a lot more attentive, and more concerned, at these new price points,” Goss said. “We’re reaching the point that consumer behavior is starting to change.”
However, the Bonnie Brae Conoco in south Denver had no shortage of customers filling up Thursday, even at prices of $3.199 for regular and $3.449 for premium.
“I can afford it,” real-estate broker Fred Wolfe said while filling his Range Rover sport utility vehicle at the Bonnie Brae station. “But from an environmental good-citizen point of view, maybe I should be driving something that gets better than 12 miles a gallon.”
Wolfe’s tab for 17.9 gallons of midgrade: $60.05.
A Thursday survey by AAA showed Colorado’s average gas price was $2.71 based on credit-card purchases from Wednesday. However, most metro stations were charging at least $2.90 by Thursday afternoon.
An informal survey of central Denver stations showed prices for regular ranging from $2.899 at the BP at Colorado Boulevard and Cherry Creek Drive to $3.199 at the Bonnie Brae Conoco and the Sun Mart at East Colfax Avenue and Josephine Street.
Gas supplies were tight but adequate at most Denver-area stations. However, supplies ran dry at a small-but-growing number of gas stations across the U.S. on Thursday as Gulf Coast refiners and pipelines remained hobbled by Hurricane Katrina and motorists nervous about tightening supplies lined up to top off their tanks.
Most of the dry stations were concentrated along the East Coast and in Midwest states. Station owners said many of the shortages were temporary, exacerbated by panic buying and delayed deliveries.
Colorado state Rep. Mark Cloer, a Colorado Springs Republican, said he plans to introduce a bill in next year’s legislative session that would allow the state to temporarily suspend the 22-cents-a-gallon tax on gasoline during periods of high prices.
A new national poll by AP-Ipsos shows that Americans are worried about rapidly rising gasoline prices and want President Bush and Congress to make that their top domestic priority.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Staff writer Steve Raabe can be reached at 303-820-1948 or sraabe@denverpost.com.
