Back in 2008, when drivers pulling into gas stations in their full-size SUVs stared in shock at prices of $4 and up for a gallon of regular, it seemed as if we were heading into an austere future in which fuel would be increasingly scarce and brutally costly.

But the energy apocalypse for consumers that many expected never came to pass. Instead, an analyst for Kiplinger, the Washington, D.C.-based publisher of business forecasts, thinks we may be headed into an era in which gasoline and other consumer energy costs will steadily decline due to structural shifts in both the energy marketplace and American economy and lifestyle. (See related blog post: “The Pursuit of Low Gas Prices Is Bad for