Knoxville residents and businesses are experiencing a high spike in gasoline prices as a result of disruptions from Hurricanes Gustav and Ike. We too at the City are experiencing dramatic increases in the costs of gasoline for day to day operations. We are very concerned about the difficulty this presents.

The price of gasoline in Knoxville has been particularly hard hit because the two major pipelines serving the area were unable to provide the supplies that were due last week. The shortages experienced here and throughout the region caused the wholesale price of gasoline in the Knoxville area increased dramatically, and retailers chose to pass part of this increase on to their customers. Some areas in other parts of the country did not experience such wholesale disruptions. Consequently they did not experience the increases that we have experienced.

We are hopeful that the supply of gasoline will return to normal levels soon and that prices will decline to pre-hurricane levels. In the meantime we are encouraging people to utilize Knoxville Area Transit for their transportation needs. We also will be limiting any discretionary use of city vehicles.

We have received many requests to investigate these price increases. This responsibility rests at the state level with the Tennessee State Attorney General.

Thanks for your patience during this difficult time.