Today’s fuel price musings - I go on vacation and look what happens
July 7th, 2008 at 06:07pm Thomas V. Bona
The day before I left, I saw gas prices below $4 a gallon in spots in Rockford. No more - we hit a new record for the metro area on Saturday, and it looks like we’ll have another one tomorrow (there are places selling for $4.27 a gallon in Rockford today, but they’re not yet reflected in the below prices).
Here are the numbers (courtesy of AAA’s fuelgaugereport.com):
Gasoline: Rockford dropped half a cent Monday to $4.13 a gallon, more than a cent off Saturday’s record. We’re fourth in the state in gas prices. The state average dropped a fraction of a cent from Sunday’s record, remaining at $4.21 a gallon. The national average increased a fraction of a cent today to a record $4.11. Illinois now has the ninth-highest gas prices in the nation.
Diesel: Rockford rose more than two cents today to $4.83, more than three cents below the record set in May. We have the second- or third-highest diesel prices in the state, with no report for Quincy today. The state average increased a fraction of a cent to a record $4.82 a gallon. The national average increased almost a cent to a record $4.80 a gallon. Illinois has the 17th-highest prices in the country (including the District of Columbia).
Entry Filed under: Fuel price musings
2 Comments Add your own
1. Nancy | July 10th, 2008 at 8:15 pm
Since I have retired and moved from Rockford to Ky. I do a lot of traveling. One thing I can\’t understand is why in all the places in Illinois I have been to in my travels that the cheapest gas I have found is in Springfield. No wonder the elected officials don\’t complain about the high cost of gas. And furthermore Ky. has the cheapest gas I have found and if one state can be cheaper than another someone is sure lining their pockets.
2. Thomas V. Bona | July 10th, 2008 at 10:08 pm
That’s interesting, because if you track fuelgaugereport.com, Springfield is rarely at the bottom. Lately, Decatur has been. Sometimes it’s Champaign. Generally, the northern cities - Chicago, Rockford, Quad Cities - are the highest. Sometimes Quincy is up there, too, Quincy’s just weird. And Springfield? They’re tied with the fourth highest prices right now.
Kentucky also doesn’t have particularly low prices. Right now, they’re 19th in the country. Now, as I’ve reported in previous articles, there are a lot of geographical reasons for why certain regions have higher prices than others.
But one big reason is state fuel taxes. If you check out this map, you can see Kentucky’s gas taxes are generally 25 cents a gallon lower than Illinois. Depending on your view of taxation, you have a better sense who is “lining their pockets.”
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