We’re No. 2! California’s gas prices aren’t the highest in the nation anymore
It may be cold comfort for motorists in California who already pay plenty whenever they go to the gas station, but the state of Washington has overtaken the Golden State for the highest price for a gallon of gasoline in the country.
Gas prices in Washington have been climbing for months and on Tuesday the statewide average came to $4.825 for a gallon of regular, exceeding California by little more than a penny, according to GasBuddy.com. Washington kept its dubious bragging rights Wednesday, with the averages little changed overnight.
The prices in the Evergreen State have soared more than $1 per gallon since the start of this year, which coincides with the state implementing a cap and trade program.
Passed by the Washington Legislature and signed by Gov. Jay Inslee, what’s been dubbed the cap-and-invest Climate Commitment Act will raise hundreds of millions of dollars by requiring industries in Washington that emit greenhouse gases to buy permits on the carbon pollution they produce.
But Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, a tech company that helps drivers find the cheapest places to buy gas, said the immediate effect has been higher prices at the pump.
You’ve seen the signs advertising $6.95, $6.99 or even $7.05 for a gallon of regular unleaded. But who’s buying it, and why?
“In Washington’s case, the government there believes that by increasing the price of a commodity like gasoline and [making] it more expensive, it will make consumers use less,” De Haan said. “But it’s actually a regressive tax and the poor are hit more than the folks that can go out and afford a Tesla” or any other electric vehicle that doesn’t run on gas.
The average price for gasoline in Washington is up 25 cents a gallon in the last month and 4 cents this week, enough to displace California from the No. 1 spot.
Inslee’s office defended Washington’s cap-and-invest program, saying $2.1 billion in money raised from the program will be disbursed into the state budget for climate resilience investments, renewable energy infrastructure and cleaner transportation and energy options.
“There is more speculation than substance in this debate when it comes to costs for consumers,” Jaime Smith, Inslee’s executive director of communications, said in an email. “It is too soon to accurately assess the policy’s price impacts. Gas prices fluctuate widely due to a variety of factors.”
Smith said diesel prices have not changed much in Washington since the beginning of the year, and she took a shot at gasoline producers.
“No one is surprised that rapacious oil companies experiencing record profits are choosing to pass their compliance costs to customers — sometimes even for fuels that are exempt under the law,” she said.
After a spike in prices over the Memorial Day weekend, gas prices in California are expected to stay high during the summer travel season.
California has had its own cap-and-trade program, in place since 2013.
Overseen by the California Air Resources Board, the program establishes a limit on how much companies in the state that emit more than 25,000 metric tons of CO2 can pollute and gives them the option of buying or trading credits. If companies want to emit more than allotted, they must buy allowance credits from the state during an auction.
Proceeds from these auctions — which came to more than $1 billion in the second quarter of this year — go toward climate projects in California to help reduce greenhouse gases.
But the rise in gas prices in Washington has led to complaints, with the Seattle Times reporting that Native American tribes were irritated after Inslee rebuffed their call to exempt tribal gas stations from the Climate Commitment Act and the state’s Clean Fuel Standard.
“I don’t think the average citizen should be taking it on the chin,” said Tom Wooten, chair of the Samish Indian Nation.
For years, California typically has had the nation’s most expensive gasoline, due to higher taxes and the state’s clean fuel requirements. According to media reports out of Seattle, this is the first time Washington has posted the nation’s highest average price per gallon.
Only 10 electric and plug-in hybrid cars will qualify for the full tax credit in the U.S. out of 90 available EV options on the market.
De Haan predicts that Washington and California will battle it out to be the state with the highest gas prices in the nation for some time to come.
Washington’s cap-and-trade program “is going to be something that doesn’t disappear,” De Haan said. “Washington could remain at or above California’s levels.”
AAA also tracks gasoline prices across the country, and its data are roughly parallel with GasBuddy’s. According to AAA, the average price for a gallon of regular Tuesday came to $4.912 in Washington and $4.868 in California, and on Wednesday the gap widened a bit as California’s average held steady but the Washington average rose 2 cents.
In Los Angeles, AAA reported the average price Tuesday was $4.931 a gallon. That average edged lower Wednesday to $4.926.
