Gas is $10 a gallon at a Big Sur station. The owner explains why his prices can’t go higher

The owner of Gorda by the Sea, the lone gas station for several miles in any direction from this remote, scenic hamlet in Big Sur, is charging $9.99 for a gallon of gas because, well, that’s as high as the digital numbers on the gas pumps allow.

“The software only goes to $10,” said Leo Flores, owner of the gas station and mini-market. “I know, sometimes someone wants to make a good story because of it, but we have to tell you why.”

As the lone gas station for at least 12 miles along Highway 1, the service station often prompts drivers to gasp or clutch their wallets at the sight of a $9.99 price tag for a gallon, but Flores insists he’s not trying to price gouge his customers. In fact, he’s worried that if gas prices go much higher, it might put him out of business.

“People think you make money, but I’m not,” he said in an interview with The Times.

Motorists across the country have been griping since gasoline prices began to surge last month following the start of the U.S. and Israel war with Iraq, which restricted the flow of oil from key oil-producing countries. Flores is an example of how sky-rocketing fuel prices are having ripple effects throughout the economy.

The isolated gas station has been featured in the news in the past for its high prices but Flores, who has owned the station for the last 30 years, said there’s a simple reason why the cost is so high.

“We run this place on generators,” he said. “The generators run on five to six gallons of gasoline every hour.”

It’s not just the gas station that runs on generators, he said. The small oceanside community surrounding the gas station — the mini-market, the cafe, the hotel and nearby cabins — is owned by Flores and runs on generators because there is no access to an outside electrical plant.

“When I explain why to people, they’re happy to pay what I ask them,” Flores said. “It costs me more to make my own electricity.”

According to AAA, the national average cost of a gallon of regular gas is up to $4.09 and, in California its up to $5.86. In Los Angeles County it’s even higher with one gallon at about $6. At gas stations around Gorda by the Sea, the average cost also sits at $6, according to AAA.

Flores said he has considered using solar panels to generate electricity but the initial cost is high as well. To raise the prices even higher at the gas station, he’d have to buy new pumps, an investment he’s not sure he could afford now.

High prices are not his only worry. The entire hamlet can only operate if Flores’ regular gasoline deliveries make it through on Highway 1 every two weeks.

When the highway shut down for three years because of landslides, starting in 2023, he said, he struggled to get gas deliveries to run his generators and survived on only 10% to 20% of the business he normally sees, he said, adding that his business barely made it until the reopening in January.

“It’s a big deal,” he said. “If the highway is closed in both directions, I’m screwed.”

Flores complained that no one pays attention to his struggles when Highway 1 closes but it’s another story when gas prices spike.

“Why when the highway opens and I raise the price everyone points at me like I’m the bad guy?”