Same old gouge at the gas pumps. Prices have edged back up, in the case of Mammoth Lakes, over the $3 mark. Why the increase after months of lower prices?

The Auto Club says that gas prices continued to post hefty daily increases over the last week in May after Memorial Day which in the past equaled the end of the spring gas price spike. During May, the Auto club says, prices rose by a penny a day or more on average, which has been the heftiest monthly increase so far in 2009.

Locally, prices in the Bishop and Owens Valley area range from $2.61 on the low end to $2.95 on the high end. In Mammoth Lakes, a gallon of regular goes for $3.17.

The Auto Club points to higher wholesale fuel and crude oil future prices as the cause for higher gas prices at the pump. The cause of the higher wholesale and futures prices, according to the Auto Club, is the high hope of an improving economic situation.

The result means a bigger burden for consumers in terms of their own travel costs and higher commodity prices that include fuel and transportation costs.

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