Gas prices, which in Iowa have remained mostly below the national average throughout the past two years, are going down again.

State and national fuel prices rose steadily in 2003 and early 2004 — with a spike in May — before falling again and stabilizing during the summer. Prices spiked in October, but, according to www.IowaStateGasPrices.com, the prices are returning to slightly above the level they were during the summer.

On Tuesday, the price for gas at Iowa fuel pumps was roughly 10 cents lower than the national average, according to the Web site.

Crude oil prices have been going down in the past few weeks, leading to a decrease in the price of refined gasoline.

“It changes every day. It’s amazing how it goes up and down. This week we saw a big drop — we dropped 10 cents — so it is supposedly going down,” said Jake Elmquist, general manager of Decker’s Petro Palace, 821 Lincoln Way. “I’d like to see it go down to $1.50 per gallon again.”

Students have also been impacted by gas prices.

“If prices were lower, I might go out of town to other places where I have friends,” said Doug Schoening, junior in finance.

Brian Tveter, sophomore in health and human performance from Marengo, Ill., said, “I have only gone home a couple of times — for Labor Day and Thanksgiving — because the prices are high.”

Fuel price isn’t the only product affected by market gas prices. Natural gas, which is used for furnaces, water heaters and other household necessities are at the mercy of oil prices, too.

Steve Wilson, energy services coordinator for the city of Ames, said he was told by Alliant Energy that the price for natural gas went up in the past four months but saw a decline in price in December.

Wilson said this may be because it has been a fairly mild fall and December so far.

“When it gets really cold, demand goes up, and so do prices,” he said.

Wilson said people often don’t understand or don’t pay attention to why their bills are going up.

“When gas prices go up, bills go up,” Wilson said, “People don’t pay attention; they tend to either understand that gas prices have gone up, or they question how much they are using and they look for ways to cut down on consumption. I recommend that they look at the dollars and not the units; it could be that the prices have gone up.”

Students have a tradeoff when it comes to energy costs, he said — they either use more gas to be comfortable, or lower the thermostat to lower their bill.

There’s also a tradeoff between all utility costs in order to keep within budgets, Wilson said. Students may watch less TV or turn lights off more often if energy costs are high so they can keep total costs within their budget.