Today’s fuel price musings - Prices up here, but up more elsewhere
January 9th, 2009 at 02:05pm Thomas V. Bona
Seems no real change in Rockford itself, so any increase is probably outlying stations catching up. I sense $2 is a real barrier gas stations don’t want to break if they don’t have to (it’s a big psychological blow to consumers), so they’ll stop going up at $1.99 even if their costs go up and perhaps won’t go back down as fast when costs drop.
While oil prices are slightly down again, it’s apparent that something it causing gas prices to elevate in the Midwest. A few more metro areas around the Midwest have passed Rockford in prices, and in general the region is behind only the west coast, Alaska and Hawaii.
Here are the prices (courtesy of AAA’s fuelgaugereport.com):
Gasoline: Rockford rose less than a cent to remain at $1.93 a gallon. We have the fourth-highest gas prices in the state, behind Chicago, Bloomington, and Quad Cities. We’re the 66rd-highest of the nation’s 250 metro areas. The Illinois average rose more than a cent to $1.94. The national average rose two cents to $1.78. Illinois has the seventh-highest gas prices in the nation, including the District of Columbia. Only Alaska and Hawaii remain above $2 a gallon.
Diesel: Rockford rose almost a cent to $2.45 a gallon. We have the fourth-highest diesel prices in the state. The state average dropped almost a cent to $2.54. The national average rose almost a cent to $2.44. Illinois has the 15th-highest diesel prices in the country. Only Alaska and Hawaii remain above $3 a gallon.
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4 Comments Add your own
1. Randy Nicholson | January 10th, 2009 at 10:55 am
Are you kidding me? Rockford BEHIND prices in Chicago? Maybe in certain parts of the city of Chicago where crime is high, but take it from someone who travels in metro Chicago almost daily. Prices in the suburbs of Chicago both west and south have been consistantly 10-20 cents CHEAPER THAN ROCKFORD! Heck, the TOLLWAY prices are even consistantly cheaper than here!
There is a term for gas prices as they relate to oil prices. The “rocket and feather” syndrome. When oil prices go up, the price at the pump skyrockets immediately. When oil prices drop, it takes much longer for the prices at the pump to drop. Hence the “feather” analogy.
In Rockford, the feather never fully landed with the last oil price bottom. It immediately skyrocketed the last week or so with the SLIGHT oil price rise. However oil has dropped again the past few days but we are not seeing it at the Rockford pumps.
Let’s stop comparing our pump prices to the inner city of Chicag, and do a real comparison with Chicago suburbs and outlying communities where gas is consistantly cheaper than Rockford. I do my best to fill my tank anywhere EXCEPT Rockford as I travel daily all around the metro Chicago area.
2. bill collins | January 10th, 2009 at 7:39 pm
blomington is 26 sents cheaper i dont know where they get there info from s beloit is 173 also i think thats jail tax and croneys tax money i checked a month ago rockford was the highest in the state
3. Thomas V. Bona | January 11th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
Randy - you raise some good questions but I’ll have to tackle them Monday when I’m pack at the office.
Bill - I gotta ask you where you’re getting your prices. According to Illinoisgasprices.com right now, Bloomington is running 8-14 cents cheaper than Rockford city. The numbers I quote above are for the entire metro area, not just the cities. Rockford edged in front of Bloomington so far this weekend, but not by a lot as a metro area.
4. Patrick | January 12th, 2009 at 9:46 pm
I posted a while ago when you wrote about gas prices. I still think that Petrofix.com is a good deal. They can raise prices all they want now and I\’ll still be capped. I did cap my price higher, at $2.27, but I still get the downside on gas prices which is nice.
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