Editor’s note: This is the second in a three-part series about rising gasoline prices.

High gas prices at the pump have most certainly affected where Kathy Attig drives to, and how often.

“Either I don’t go, or try to ride with someone else if we’re going to the same place,” she said.

As far as who’s responsible for the rise in the prices, her guess is as good as anybody’s.

“The economy is always worse; it’s never better,” she said.

What she does know is that the person not to blame is the person behind the counter at the gas station.

It’s the kind of understanding that Tami Mehus, co-manager at Ole’s Eastside Shell on East Main Street in Albert Lea, wishes everyone had. She hears complaints almost daily, as gas prices at the pump continue to inch upward. She apologizes to store customers, hoping they understand that the clerks don’t set the prices at the pump.

“If we did, the prices wouldn’t be nearly as high as they are,” she said.

In the business for 11 years now, Mehus remembers the last time gas rose to above $3 per gallon; about the time when people were just starting to lose their jobs. The record price, according to USA Today, was $4.11 per gallon of gas on July 17, 2008, just before the economic recession took hold across the country.

“Now people have lost their jobs and they’re out of unemployment, which makes it worse,” Mehus said.

And while the clerks behind the counter do not set the fuel prices, Mehus said the station actually makes little on the prices consumers pay for fuel.

“You don’t make any money on the fuel,” she said. “There’s no feasible way to keep this business open without having inside sales because it’s just too costly.”

Monroe Warren, manager of BP Korner Mart on the corner of Maple Hill Drive and Front Street in Albert Lea, agreed.

“We’d rather see gas under $1 per gallon because that frees up how much people have to spend in the store,” Warren said. “The higher gas prices are, the worse it is for us.”

Mehus said percentage-wise, the biggest moneymakers at Ole’s Eastside Shell are from the sales of cigarettes and soda. Breakdown of the dollar per gallon

Doug Tiffany, assistant extension professor of renewable energy at the University of Minnesota, said the dollar spent on each gallon of gasoline is split up several ways, in turn, dispersing profits of gasoline sales in several different directions.

“We should expect everyone along the supply-distribution chain to make some profits starting with the sellers of crude oil, the owners, sailors and pipeline workers on crude oil tankers or pipelines that deliver crude oil to refineries,” he said.

He said that trickles down to refiners and then distribution of finished products to service stations.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration is the statistical and analytical agency within the U.S. Department of Energy. It broke down the price of a gallon of regular-grade unleaded gasoline, based on data gathered in November 2010, as follows: crude oil accounted for 71 percent of the national average retail price per gallon, followed by 14 percent in taxes, 10 percent in distribution and marketing, and 5 percent in refining costs.

Glenda Erickson, co-manager at Ole’s Eastside Shell, mapped out how the dollars are broken down within the store. She said the store only makes 6 cents, on average, for every gallon of gasoline sold.

Take from that a 3 cent per gallon charge in swiping fees from the credit card company, for those who use a credit card to pay at the pump, and the store profits 3 cents on the gallon.

But even then, the station may end up making no profit on the sale.

“We give a 3 cent discount for Shell club members,” Erickson said.

That takes the profit to zero on the sale.

Alternatives for a greener future

In 2006, Pat Stumme of Albert Lea commuted to Mankato for her job. She drove a Chevy Tahoe, and found herself at the pump at least once a week.

She bought a 2006 Toyota Prius, which operates on both battery power and regular unleaded gasoline, switching between the two depending on the rate of speed that the car is traveling. Different from the “smart car,” Stumme said her Prius is about the size of a Toyota Corolla, very roomy and comfortable. She made the change in part because at that time, gasoline was approaching $3 per gallon.

“We have never regretted the decision,” Stumme said. “It feels good to know I can go down the road at 50 miles per gallon during warm temperatures and in the wintertime, still get 31 miles per gallon.”

Although Stumme never crunched the numbers, the fact that she went from filling a 26 gallon tank in a Tahoe once a week to filling a 10 gallon tank in a Prius once a month speaks for itself.

She also likes the environmental example she’s setting for her grandchildren and their future.

“Part of the reason was in regard to my four grandchildren,” she said. “If I could do just a little bit to save resources for them, it’s worth it.”

Rick Mummert, general manager at Poet Biorefining in Glenville, has been a long advocate of independence from foreign oil.

“We’re paying a billion dollars a day for barrels of oil to countries that don’t appreciate our way of life,” he said. “Imagine what that money could do for our economy. It’s time for us to consider energy dependence and reduce our commitment to foreign oil.”

Mummert is an advocate for the ethanol blends found at local stations, including E20, E30, E40 and E85 blends at Freeborn County Co-op Oil. On Friday, those prices were as follows: E-20 was $3.079, E-30 was $3.019, E-40 was $2.999 and E-85 was $2.469.

Mummert said like gasoline, the prices of ethanol are completely market driven. He said the price of corn is the No. 1 cost, but supply and demand along many factors beyond local control come into play when pricing ethanol blends at the pump.

“We can’t control the price of corn or oil, but we can make ethanol here with American ingenuity and American blood, sweat and tears,” he said. “We can keep those dollars at home to create our own infrastructure and roll them back through the American farmer.”

Tuesday: Read about how rising gas prices affect other businesses and how tides may be turning.

Components of gas prices

The national average retail price of a gallon of regular gasoline in November 2010 was $2.86. The EIA also states there are four main components that make up the retail price of a gallon of gasoline, and broke down the November 2010 average as follows:

1. Crude oil: The cost of crude oil as a share of the retail price varies over time and among regions of the country. In November 2010, refiners paid an average of about $85 per barrel of crude oil, which accounted for about 71 percent of the national average retail price of a gallon of regular grade gasoline.

2. Refining: Refining costs and profits were 5 percent of the retail price of gasoline.

3. Distribution and marketing: Distribution, marketing and retail dealer costs and profits made up roughly 10 percent of the retail price of gasoline in November 2010.

4. Taxes: Federal, state, and local government taxes (not including county and local taxes) accounted for about 14 percent of the national average retail price of regular gasoline in November 2010. Federal excise taxes were 18.4 cents per gallon for all states and State excise taxes averaged 22.44 cents per gallon.

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, the statistical and analytical agency within the U.S. Department of Energy.

Taxes around the U.S.

States’ gasoline tax rate per gallon differed as of January 2010

Wyoming    14.0 cents   (lowest in country)
Missouri    17.3 cents
Iowa    22.0 cents
North Dakota    23.0 cents
South Dakota    24.0 cents
Minnesota    27.2 cents
Nebraska    27.7 cents
Michigan    35.0 cents
Wisconsin    32.9 cents
Illinois    39.0 cents
California    46.6 cents  (highest in country)

Source: Tax Foundation (www. taxfoundation.org/research/show/26079.html)