A long-anticipated discount gas station in Manana for members of Sam's Club is scheduled to open at about 2 p.m. today.

The station, near the Sam's Club at Pearl Highlands Center, is the first in Hawai'i for the members-only retailer or its sister company Wal-Mart.

Sam's Club, which has two O'ahu stores, had planned to open the Manana station about a year ago on a site next to a Wal-Mart store that opened in 2006, but there were delays after the company applied for building permits in 2005.

Today's opening comes as gasoline prices are rising substantially, and will provide another outlet for consumers seeking value-priced gas. The high-volume station with 24 fuel dispensers also will increase competition with traditional gas stations.

A Sam's Club spokeswoman said prices would be set today, and pledged to have a "nice competitive" price. The station will sell two grades of gas plus diesel. Only Sam's Club members can buy gas at the station.

The average price for a gallon of regular gas yesterday in Hawai'i was $3, which compares with a little under $2.50 in January and about $2.75 a month ago, according to the American Automobile Association's Daily Fuel Gauge Report.

Costco, another members-only warehouse retailer, was the first big-box store in Hawai'i to get into the gas business here, opening a station at its Waipi'o store in 2000. Costco today also operates gas stations at stores in Iwilei and Kapolei on O'ahu; Lihu'e on Kaua'i; and Kailua, Kona, on the Big Island. Stores in Hawai'i Kai and Kahului, Maui, don't have gas stations.

Though Wal-Mart has gas stations at many Mainland stores, owned and operated by Murphy Oil Corp., the retailer doesn't have gas stations at any of its eight stores in Hawai'i.