The Oil Drum

Speaking of Hawaii, I was wondering how the gasoline price controls introduced were working there. I googled on hawaii gas price controls and here was one of the first hits:

http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=48897

Gas-price controls backfire in Hawaii

Cost of fuel rises faster under new law, while drivers pay less in other 49 states

Hawaii's gas price controls, imposed last fall when the cost of fuel was hovering around $3 a gallon in many parts of the U.S., have actually triggered much higher costs for consumers.

As of Friday, Hawaii drivers were paying the highest per-gallon costs in the nation, with record-setting prices of as much as $3.39. A year ago, consumers in Hawaii were paying nearly $1 a gallon less. The national average today is $2.24 a gallon.

The price controls were set by the state Public Utilities Commission Sept. 1. The idea was that the limits would bring Hawaii's gas prices in line with the mainland, which has traditionally had lower prices on many goods because of the transportation costs involved in delivering product to the islands.

Now there are moves afoot in the Hawaii legislature to scrap the price controls....

Before the gas cap law, Hawaii paid an average of 44 cents more per gallon than the rest of the mainland. Since the law went into effect in September, however, the differential has increased to more than 50 cents per gallon....

Meanwhile, free-market advocates say retailers charged the maximum allowable under the limits to compensate for the threat of not being able to profit in the future.

It's kind of ironic that Peak Oilers call for government to mandate higher prices, while these people want government to force them to be lower. Everyone wants to have their hands on the wheel, I guess. Apparently having prices set by supply and demand is the one solution that is unacceptable to everyone.