RALEIGH, N.C. -- Several gas stations were subpoenaed Monday for dramatically raising their fuel prices after Hurricane Ike, reportedly charging as much as $7.32 a gallon for regular fuel.

State Attorney Roy Cooper said seven retailers were targeted for charging more than $5.49 a gallon last week, though more subpoenas are being prepared. Retailers will have 10 days to explain why their prices went so high and could be fined up to $5,000.

"There's no excuse for ripping off consumers who are already hurting from high gas prices," Cooper said during a news conference. "Gouging for greed will not be tolerated in North Carolina."

Cooper took action after his office received thousands of complaints about price gouging, a large number from western North Carolina. The first round of subpoenas went to 14 gas stations in Anson, Ashe, Cherokee, Guilford, Montgomery, Stanly and Transylvania counties. Three stations are in the Charlotte area, in the towns of Polkton, Locust and Oakboro.

The average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gas in North Carolina is up to $4.085 a gallon, more than 50 cents higher that it was last week, according to auto club AAA Carolinas. Gas prices shot up shortly after Hurricane Ike struck the Texas coastline and its numerous oil refineries.

Gov. Mike Easley declared a state of "abnormal market disruption" on Friday and signed an order allowing Cooper to enforce the state's anti-gouging law. The subpoenas represent the first time the anti-gouging law has been put to work since it was passed in 2006.

There's no specific formula to determine what price is considered gouging, but Cooper said he'll use several factors such as wholesale price and quantities.

The Consumer Protection staff at the Attorney General's office has fielded more than 2,800 calls from concerned consumers since Friday. Cooper said no calls have come in from retailers complaining about gouging from wholesalers.

"But our investigation into retailers ... could lead us to investigations of wholesalers or distributors," he said.

Gas Distributor Says Prices Could Continue To Rise

A spokesman for one of the two massive gas pipelines supplying the Charlotte area said they've been running about 70 percent capacity since Hurricane Ike hit the Gulf Coast, and a second pipeline may have been pumping even less gas.

Tanker trucks were lined up outside several storage terminals in Charlotte's Paw Creek neighborhood Monday afternoon hoping to get gas to the local stations.

One distributor told Eyewitness News he's been running only about 40 percent of the loads he usually runs and he doesn't expect that to change for several days.

The distributor said gas stations set their prices based on what it will cost them to refill their tanks, and that's why gas prices jumped sharply on Friday and over the weekend, even though stations already had their supplies of gas.

He said to expect gas prices to stay high or even go higher over the next few days because it will take awhile for offshore oil production to get back up to speed.

S.C. Attorney General Also Investigating Gouging Claims

South Carolina drivers continued paying high prices for gas when they could find it Monday and the governor ordered some agencies to halt travel as the aftermath of Hurricane Ike continued to squeeze the state.

But fuel was flowing again through a major pipeline that serves the state and while some stations were out of gas, supply was not believed to be a long-lasting problem, said AAA Carolinas and a petroleum marketers group.

"This is going to be the worst week," said Tom Crosby, a spokesman for the auto club. "People don't need to panic. There's is enough supply out there -- people are just going to have to pay through the nose to get it."

President Bush warned Monday that people will face a "pinch" at the pump because of Hurricane Ike. Refineries, even if they were not damaged, may remain shuttered for days, some because of power outages in Texas, where Ike first hit.

The prices that started to surge late last week brought a slew of complaints to South Carolina officials who, like their counterparts in many other states, invoked a state law allowing them to criminally punish price gougers.

South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster said his office received more than 2,000 e-mails and 800 phone calls in less than a week from people complaining about gas price gouging. His office has yet to issue subpoenas against gas station owners or take any other action. The North Carolina attorney general has sent subpoenas to seven gasoline retailers in that state.

"We don't want to accuse anyone with inadequate evidence. But we are collecting information and will take action if we find any wrongdoing," McMaster said.

It was no comfort for 44-year-old Lew Johnson, who bought his gas at $3.99 a gallon Monday. The Richland County waste collector said he couldn't afford to put more than four gallons in his car.

"It makes me furious. Living check to check, I don't need gas going up," said Johnson, a Columbia resident. "I'm praying that it goes back down."

Meanwhile, Gov. Mark Sanford called for the restrictions on nonessential travel for the 15 agencies under his control, and asked other state departments to do the same. He said his office will monitor fuel availability to determine whether to keep the restrictions for longer than a week. The restrictions do not affect troopers on highways, officials said.

"It means, 'What can you get by for the next week without doing?" said Sanford spokesman Joel Sawyer.

For example, the Corrections Department won't take prisoners out in vans this week for roadside litter pickup. Parks, Recreation and Tourism supervisors will make far fewer visits to state welcome centers. And Labor, Licensing and Regulation employees will do more interviews by phone, rather than in person, Sawyer said.

The governor again urged residents to use common sense when buying gas so that panic-buying doesn't worsen any short-term shortage.

"While we're taking what steps we can at the state level, I can't emphasize enough that the key to getting through this short-term disruption lies in our collective hands as South Carolinians," Sanford said in a statement. "As we said last week, that means common-sense conservation and patience, and it means avoiding the temptation to fill up everything we have."

The state fleet of nearly 16,900 vehicles includes state law enforcement, college buses, and road construction vehicles. It does not include the Education Department's statewide fleet of school buses.

The average price Monday for a gallon of regular gas was $4.12 in South Carolina. The previous record before the gas shortages caused by Hurricane Ike was $3.91 in July, according to AAA Carolinas.

Gas in Columbia was the most expensive at an average of $4.21 a gallon; prices in Charleston have fallen to $3.94 a gallon. Prices should begin going down and supplies should improve by next week, Crosby said. Until then, he said people should drive less and drive slower.

The executive director of the South Carolina Petroleum Marketers Association said some fuel suppliers have made special trips to Savannah, Ga., or Raleigh, N.C., to get gasoline. The pain at the pump isn't just being felt by consumers, said Michael Fields, whose group represents gas station owners and fuel suppliers.

"It hurts wholesalers, it hurts dealers, it hurts convenience stores," he said. "There is no joy anywhere today."