The war in Iran has caused a spike in gas prices that is hitting California consumers especially hard, according to data from the American Automobile Association (AAA).
AAA reports that in California, the most expensive US market for gas, the average price per gallon on Monday was $5.20, compared with $3.47 nationally. The national average climbed nearly $0.50 since the conflict began more than a week ago, while in the Golden state it rose by $0.55.
Since the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran on 28 February, leading to intensifying violence across the Middle East, the price of oil surged to more than $100 a barrel for the first time in nearly four years. The conflict has damaged oil and gas facilities and stranded ships carrying roughly 20m barrels of oil a day in the Gulf.
About 20% of the world’s oil is shipped through the strait of Hormuz every day but the channel has essentially been closed for the last week.
Pretty glad I drive an electric car right now.
Only half joking, but all of the new data centers raising energy prices are unfortunately coming for you too. Still way cheaper than the gas equivalent though.
Jokes on you, I’ve got an electric car and solar panels. Fuck the grid!
Hot damn I wish I could do that. We recently had our first semi serious look into solar for our place. Maybe someday.
If it gets expensive, I can always get solar. Once you pay for the initial investment of the equipment, it’s basically free energy for decades.
I want to say our estimated break even was about a decade at our current consumption. I definitely need to get more quotes and see what the market has to offer. It’s 100% a bucket list item for me. My other hesitation is that I don’t want to live in my state for another 10 years. I think that I’m probably stuck here, but I feel once I pull that trigger, I’ve sealed my fate. My family and my wife’s are relatively near by, and while I’d move tomorrow if I could and budget for flights back, my wife does not feel the same.
I want to say our estimated break even was about a decade at our current consumption.
That calculation also likely assumes electricity prices stay the same for a decade. If electricity prices increase, your payback date arrives sooner.
True. Something I hadn’t taken into consideration. We’ve got a couple data centers coming up over the next couple years on my power grid. They’re for sure going to increase costs.
DCs are like roaches these days. If you see two going in, there are probably ten more than you don’t know about also going in.
You’re still affected by this as nearly everything you buy was transported on a truck.
What does the truck that delivers your food run on?
No idea, but I feel it a lot more when commuting goes up 50% than when food goes up 20%.
Also, if I can have just one of those, instead of both, why wouldn’t I want that??
Us$5 a gallon? That’s almost Canadian prices. Just a little higher and that’s our day-to-day.
US gallon is 3.8 litres. Before Iran, we were paying $CDN 4.70, or $US3.10.
Now it’s $CDN5.70, or $US3.76.
US$5 would be CDN$1.75 a liter.
So no. Why are Canadians so stupid about gas prices?
Ha. Try 2.40/litre ($11/gallon) in Norway.
True, but density, public transportation, social services, and electrification are very different in much of the US. Fuel prices hit differently depending on where you live in the world.
Norway isn’t dense. It has less population density than the US does
True.
I’m primarily talking about specific regions of the US, not the whole place. Many places in the US are famous for sprawl.
Take a city like Huston, Texas. Triple the population of Oslo, but everyone is insanely spread out, and even city centers don’t feel particularly walkable.
Fuel prices hit hard of you’re a Norwegian living outside of the cities (which is the majority of Norwegians). You really need to have a car in the countryside, as both buses and trains are few and far between. There’s still plenty of fossil-fueled vehicles out here. People keep them because they either can’t afford to make the jump over to electric, don’t trust the EV’s to handle winter well enough, or because they’re worried about the technological hurdle (Norway is an aging population).
True. Almost all new vehicles are EVs, but 70% of the existing vehicles on the road are ICE. Super impressive, but that tank of fuel is extra painful if you’re in the countryside.
US gallon is 3.78L. $9/gallon.
Ah, you’re right. My goodness, couldn’t the Americans even agree with the rest of the world on make-believe silly-units?
“While we can agree that a gallon should be the nice, round sum of 32 gills, I find it ludicrous that you define it as five fluid ounces. I’m putting my foot down. In the United States, it will be the much more manageable four ounces, which will be a different size to your ounces. Nyyyaanyyaanyanyanyaaa!”
You haven’t had decades of anti-public-transit propaganda in Norway, I bet.
Don’t need the propaganda, we just need a completely Oslo-centric government that will happily spend money on public transit, as long as it’s in Oslo. Pretty much all the governments have been like that for most of my life.
That is a brutal price to see. Wow.
Give it a couple days, its $5…so far…
Over $6 here
Bay Area
I’m guessing your in the City
San Diego?
Just paid $4.89, and that’s at the cheapest gas station I know of for 20 miles. It’s 5.50 ish around me for the most part.
I passed a station that was over $5.50 on my way to a $5/gallon pump (it was just a block away, thank goodness for 7/11). I imagine that average is going to go WAY up.
We destroy our land and will never reap the ‘benefits’.
Allowing for currency conversion it’s USD8.23 / gallon here in Victoria, Australia.
The Media: “Dear Leader gets tough with Iran! Victory is coming. But first the latest Taylor Swift news, and MARCH MADNESS!”
This is just the beginning. We are all paying Netanyahu’s war tax.
Nobody forced the whole west to support israel
Dang the summer blend fuel is gonna be north of $6 gallon then.
So the preexisting difference in price between CA and the rest of the USA was bigger than three wars with Iran… CA voters are a mystery to me.
Gas taxes pay for transportation infrastructure and environmental efforts, similar to some European countries. That at least goes to something, unlike gas prices going up due to pointless wars.
