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Gator Beach Marts, a chain of convenience grocery stores in the Fort Lauderdale area, has store hours that fluctuate from month to month as the tourist trade in the community varies. The utility costs for one of the companys stores are listed below for the past six months.

Month	Total Hours of Operation			Total Utility Cost
January		550			$	1,620
February		600				1,700
March		700				1,900
April		500				1,600
May		450				1,350
June		400				1,300

Required: 1-a. Use the high-low method to estimate the cost behavior for the stores utility costs. Express the cost behavior in formula form (Y = a + bX). 1-b. What is the variable utility cost per hour of operation? 3-a. Construct an Excel spreadsheet and use the Excel commands to perform a least-squares regression. Estimate the cost behavior for the store's utility cost. Express the cost behavior in formula form. 3-b. What is the variable utility cost per hour of operation? 4. During July, the store will be open 300 hours. Predict the stores total utility cost for July using each of the cost-estimation methods employed in requirements (1) and (3).

Construct an Excel spreadsheet and use the Excel commands to perform a least-squares regression. Estimate the cost behavior for the store's utility cost. Express the cost behavior in formula form. (Round coefficient of X to 2 decimal places and other answer to the nearest whole dollar amount.)

	Monthly utility cost = _______+ ________ X

What is the variable utility cost per hour of operation? (Round your answer to 2 decimal places.)

	Variable utility cost ________per hour

During July, the store will be open 300 hours. Predict the stores total utility cost for July using each of the cost-estimation methods employed in requirements (1) and (3).

COST PREDICTIONS
	High-low method Least-square regression

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