It'll take more experience with the new gasoline law to know whether capping wholesale prices will mean lower or higher fuel costs for Hawai'i.

But one thing for sure is that the caps are adding to the hassle factor of living in our Islands, proving again that lawmakers often are no more careful with our time than our money.

Hawai'i gasoline prices have hit records of more than $3 a gallon in the early weeks of the cap, continuing to lead the nation.

The price cap has brought new volatility to the local market by linking the price of our fuel, which comes mostly from Asia and Alaska, to Mainland markets ravaged by hurricanes and refinery fires.

Hawai'i gasoline prices before the cap were always high, but reasonably stable.

We bought gas when we needed it from convenient stations that familiarity told us usually had the best prices.

If we were willing to sacrifice a little convenience to get the absolute lowest price, we went to the Costco pumps in Iwilei.

But under the new price caps, stability and predictability are things of the past.

We must give much more thought to where we buy gas and when, as prices set by the Public Utilities Commission fluctuate weekly by upwards of 50 cents per gallon.

If the price is scheduled to go up next week, we keep topping off our tanks this week to get the lower price while we can.

Unfortunately, everybody has the same idea and lines at discounters like Costco, long under any circumstances, become impossible.

One station that offered special low prices had to hire security to control overflowing traffic that our street corners were not designed to handle.

Conversely, when prices are scheduled to come down the next week, gas stations get little traffic as we limp around on fumes to delay fill-ups.

But the Monday wholesale price drops are not immediately reflected at many pumps because retailers are stuck with storage tanks full of high-priced fuel from the week before that nobody bought.

How many gallons of $3.25 gasoline are wasted as we drive around looking for a better price? How many more gallons are wasted as we idle in long lines when we find a good deal?

Obviously, these hassles are worth it to consumers only if price caps ultimately result in meaningfully lower fuel costs for Hawai'i.

It's discouraging to hear defensive legislators now say the goal is not necessarily lower prices, but only to make sure we get the same deal as Mainland markets that are just as certain as we are that they're being gouged by oil companies.

Huh?

It's also discouraging that this comes so close on the heels of the state's bottle law, which embodies maximum hassle on consumers for minimal gain.

We're taxed 6 cents for each canned or bottled beverage we buy, supposedly to promote recycling of containers.

But most containers are not recycled because consumers find it too much of an annoyance to stand in line at inconvenient redemption centers and prefer to eat the deposit.

Hassle on the public could have been reduced by requiring stores to take back the beverage containers they sell, but lawmakers were unwilling to hassle the politically influential retailers.

The city's curbside recycling program, a far more efficient way to recover cans and bottles, has been stalled because public officials are unwilling to hassle politically powerful government workers who resist the initiative.

If these programs don't start producing real benefits to justify their high cost in cash and aggravation, maybe it's time to seriously hassle some elected officials.

David Shapiro, a veteran Hawai'i journalist, can be reached by e-mail at dave@volcanicash.net.