The energy crisis never ended in Columbia.
Robert Webster bought just $2 worth of gas at the Town Center Exxon off Little Patuxent Parkway one day last week, just enough to get him out of town to find a lower price.
"It's ridiculous," said Mr. Webster, an Alexandria, Va., resident who often visits friends in Columbia. "The prices here are way out of whack."
Around Columbia, residents and visitors try to dodge prices at the town's gas pumps, fleeing to catch bargains in more competitive places such as Silver Spring and U.S. 40 in Ellicott City -- where prices are as much as 10 cents lower.
With gas prices in Maryland set to increase by as much as 8 cents a gallon next month -- because the federal government has ordered oil companies to provide cleaner gas -- that means even higher prices for Columbia customers.
"It's killing me," said John Crick, 34, who moved to Columbia three months ago from Newport News, Va., where he used to pay 99 cents a gallon for regular unleaded gas. He now tries to fill his tank in Silver Spring near his job. There he pays $1.13 a gallon.
"But if I forget to fill up, I get stuck in Columbia, again," said Mr. Crick, while pumping gas at the Long Reach Village Center Exxon for $1.27 a gallon.
That's about the average price for a gallon of gas in Columbia, based on an informal price survey by The Sun of regular unleaded gas, the most popular grade.
The survey was taken at 11 gas stations in the heart of Columbia last week. The lowest price was $1.22 a gallon at the Crown station off Snowden River Parkway; the highest price was about $1.29 a gallon.
By comparison, at eight gas stations also surveyed last week along U.S. 40 in Ellicott City, prices started as low as $1.19 and went no higher than $1.20.
"People come in here all the time and complain about the prices in Columbia," said Marty Townsley, manager of a Shell gas station across U.S. 40 from Normandy Shopping Center.
"Route 40 has always been really competitive," Mr. Townsley said. "Everybody sort of pulls down their prices because of the competition."
In Columbia, the Rouse Co. blocked competition between dealers when it provided just one gas station location in each village center.
Other Columbia stations are located in similarly noncompetitive settings near shopping malls and in business parks.
But the lack of competition is only one of the factors driving up Columbia's gas prices. Gas station owners also blame high property rents in Columbia and higher wholesale prices keyed to the planned community's affluence.
"It's more expensive for dealers in Columbia," said Doneve Booth, who owns the Mobil gas station in Dobbin Center. "People are always complaining about the prices. I can understand their feelings. But I'm almost at the point I would like to put my invoices on the door and let the customers see my bills."
Most of the gas station properties in Columbia are owned by oil companies and leased to individual dealers or owners. The land originally was sold to them by the Rouse Co.
"The cost of the real estate is a component. There isn't any doubt about that," acknowledged Edward Ely, senior land sales and marketing director for Rouse. "Dealers have to price at the point where they make a profit. But the market ends up being the real boss."
Exxon gas station owners complain they have added costs because that oil company sees Columbia as an affluent market and subsequently charges them a higher wholesale price than dealers in places such as Ellicott City.
"I'm paying more for gas than the Exxon dealer in Ellicott City," said Lloyd Thacker, who owns the Town Center Exxon and an Exxon station off Little Patuxent Parkway at Banneker Road. "I've been raising hell about it for a year. It's not fair. All you get is your customers going out to Route 40."
Mr. Thacker said he pays about $1.186 for regular unleaded gas, including 18 cents-a-gallon federal tax and the 24-cents-a-gallon state tax.
Meanwhile, James Neubauer, owner of an Exxon station on Route 40 in Ellicott City about five miles away, pays two cents less per gallon -- $1.166 -- for the same gas from the same oil company.
Bruce Tackett, a spokesman for Exxon Co. U.S.A. in Houston, Texas, would not comment on the oil company's pricing policies because of lawsuits brought against Exxon over zone pricing.
"Because of federal antitrust laws and related court decisions on the subject of pricing, we consider it prudent not to discuss specifics about our pricing practices," Mr. Tackett said in a written statement in response to a query from The Sun about zone pricing last week.
Roy E. Littlefield, executive director of the Greater Washington-Maryland Service Station and Automotive Repair Association, a Lanham-based organization, said he's contacted the U.S. attorney general's office about zone pricing because in some cases it might be a violation of antitrust laws.
"Oil companies cannot charge higher prices for similar products to similar customers," Mr. Littlefield said. "It's a very, very controversial issue. It's a very emotional issue.
"Columbia seems to be an area with higher zones," he said. "Those dealers would argue, 'We already pay higher rent. Why should we have to pay higher gas prices, too?' "
And all motorists -- not just those who buy gas in Columbia -- shouldn't look for pump prices to decline soon, Mr. Littlefield warns, especially with the government's emphasis on cleaner fuel.
The newest type, called reformulated gas, is being served at gas stations, but pump prices have yet to reflect the change.
When prices are passed along to consumers, motorists will pay more for less. With reformulated gas, motorists lose at least a half-mile per gallon in travel, Mr. Littlefield said.
Through Dec. 31, the oil companies will not charge extra for the new gas, which they were mandated to provide under federal orders to help reduce pollution.
But Jan. 1, the cost for the new fuel will hit pump meters, driving prices up as much as 8 cents a gallon.
Columbia residents dread the impending price increase. Some say it seems as if they never get a price break -- even when energy prices drop nationwide.
"It doesn't really matter what the oil prices do," said Columbia resident William Jackson, 28. "Columbia's prices just go up and up and up."