Back to $5 Gas

[canyonwalker]

"$5 Gas Could Be Here Soon," some news article or another seems to warn every other day. In fact in California it's already here.

I was reminded of how our gasoline prices are higher than elsewhere in the country when I was traveling on the East Coast last week. Near my childhood home in Virginia, in the suburbs of Washington DC, the going price for gasoline was $3.25/gallon regular grade. Stations in some areas ran as high as $3.50. At the opposite end of the price spectrum I saw one station going for volume sales drop its price down to about $2.93 midweek.

The going rate of about $3.25/gallon held in many parts of Maryland I traveled through, particularly as I got farther away from DC en route to Harrisburg PA. Central Pennsylvania gas was noticeably more expensive, ranging $3.59 to $3.65 at most stations.

Back here in Silicon Valley gas is $4.69 - $4.89 per gallon at name brand stations. Independents run  $.20 - $.30/gal cheaper, and the nearby Costco is only $4.19. But the base price in high 4s at name-brand shops mean that the price for premium grade fuel runs over $5. And while my town doesn't have the cheapest gas in the area, it's far from the most expensive. I can easily imagine towns in the Bay Area where even regular grade gas starts above $5 per gallon.

Comments

[missyb]

It's just skirting $3 here in Toledo. We don't worry too much about it, as the Camry is a hybrid and goes about 500 miles on 11 gallons.

[canyonwalker]

Our cars aren't that fuel efficient. I don't write about gas prices out of concern for our budget. though. We bought the cars knowing gas could be $4/gallon or higher. I write occasionally about gas prices because a) I'm observant and basically can't not notice them, and b) it's amusing to observe how they vary regionally and correlate— or don't— with news that drives prices in the change of oil, such as last Friday's 10% drop in the price of a barrel of oil.

[missyb]

Sure, totally fair. We bought a hybrid mostly because we are trying to reduce emissions. Not really having to pay much attention to gas prices is a happy bonus!

Gas prices in my area are WEIRD. Kroger at the corner? $2.97. Kroger 5 minutes away in Temperance, MI? $3.25. A little further north near the winery? $3.50. It makes no sense to me at all.

[canyonwalker]

Is the Kroger in Ohio? Differences in how state tax and regulate gas can make a big difference in prices at the pump. Such a difference was clear when we drove through Maryland and into Pennsylvania last week. Cross the state line and suddenly gas is 35 cents/gallon more expensive everywhere.

[some_other_dave]

And don't forget that our home state of California is one of the biggest examples of that! Drive across the border into NV (as I assume you've done many times on your hiking trips!) and you'll see gas prices drop by at least that much.

Ah, the joys of having your very own formulation of gasoline... And high taxes!

[canyonwalker]

Don't forget the high cost of real estate, too. Sunnyvale is hardly the most expensive place in the region and still we're, what, $10 million per buildable acre?