By Lindsay Tice,Staff Writer

After a week of record-breaking prices and double-digit increases, there’s finally some good news for drivers and gas station owners.

Gas prices have gone down a little.

Lewiston-Auburn drivers paid $3.20 a gallon on average Monday, according to AAA. Prices fell a nickel, to $3.15, on Tuesday.

“Hopefully, we’re going to see prices diminish under the $3 range,” said Matthew McKenzie, AAA spokesman.

For drivers, falling prices meant a little savings. For independent gas stations, it meant they could open with prices low enough to get customers in the door.

Independent gas stations usually fill their tanks with surplus gas from larger companies. But when demand skyrocketed last week, there was little surplus to buy. Some suppliers told local independents they couldn’t get them gasoline at any price. Others charged astronomical prices.

Donna Church, owner of the Durham Get & Go, shut off her pumps over the weekend. One supplier wouldn’t deliver gas without a five-year contract, she said. Another wanted $4 a gallon.

“It would have blown me out of the market,” she said.

On Tuesday, she finally refilled her tanks, paying $3.35 a gallon.

She’s planning to sign with a major oil company, forgoing her independence for the security of a constant fuel supply.

Sharon Flaherty shut down her pumps over the weekend, too. Her supplier wanted $3.64 a gallon to refill the tanks at her tiny Monmouth station. She had a choice: shut down or turn her station into one of the region’s most expensive.

“I just went home,” she said.

She kept Flaherty’s Garage closed for the long holiday weekend, the first time in 28 years. She reopened Tuesday when she could refill her tanks for $3.20 a gallon.

Unlike Church, she plans to stay independent.

“We’re just going to ride it out now,” she said.

John Babb, president of J & S Oil, came within hours of closing his six gas stations in central Maine on Friday. By the end of the day, he was able to get a good enough price to stay open and break even over the long weekend.

By Tuesday, prices had fallen for him slightly. His stations were selling gas for $3.25 to $3.29 a gallon. A few cents per gallon – such as the service fee that credit card companies charge him when customers pay with plastic – makes the difference with each sale.

“It’s still very tentative,” he said. “If you use a credit card, we’re losing money. If you pay cash, we’re breaking even.”