Gas Prices Continue To Rise, Up Ten Cents In One Week
The average price per gallon of gasoline in Arkansas has risen ten cents in the past week. The current average price is $3.52, up from $3.42 last week. AAA Auto Club spokesman Mike Right says at this rate, we could see an all-time high price.
“In the case of Arkansas the all-time high occurred back in 2008 at $3.97,” Right says. “We’re about 30 cents below that right now, and that could easily be broken in the next six weeks.”
Right says we’re currently paying about 40 cents more per gallon than this time last year. He says as the price for gas continues to rise, economic pressure will start affecting families all over the country.
“If a family has to pay a dollar more per gallon this year compared to last year, that’s going to hit them at about a rate of about $1,600 on a family budget, and I don’t know that anybody has got that kind of money laying around,” he says. “There’s a large portion of the American public that basically live from pay day to pay day, and once you introduce rapidly increasing prices of a commodity that everybody pretty much has to have, you’re going to play havoc with much of the economy.”
Number of the Week: Energy Bills Heading Down (Really!)
By Ben Casselman$25: How much less the typical American household will spend on energy this winter than last.
Thats right: less.
Soaring gasoline prices have dominated headlines recently. The average price of a gallon of regular gas hit $3.65 on Friday, according to the auto club AAA . Thats up 12 cents in the past week alone.
Less noticed, but no less dramatic, has been the plummeting price of natural gas. Natural-gas prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange ended the week down 13.4 cents at $2.55 per million British thermal units. Its down more than a third in the past year.
Natural gas is the most common home heating fuel in the U.S., warming about half of American homes. Its also a major generator of electrical power, the second-biggest source of heat for U.S. households. So residential customers are seeing lower rates for both gas and electric heat this winter.
An unusually warm winter hasnt hurt, either. The U.S. is on track to have 10% fewer heating degree daysa measure of how much residents have to run their radiatorsthis winter than last. The average drop would be even more dramatic if it werent for the Western U.S., where the winter has been about normal.
MyFox Tampa BayIn Honor of Earth Day 2011, AAA Names Its Top Picks for 'Green' VehiclesAAA's top picks for new vehicle technology are selected by AAA Auto Buying experts who review hundreds of vehicles each year. The list takes into consideration not only the first appearance of a new technology in vehicles, but also its availability to AAA's top green carsTop automobile picks for those looking to save on gasAAA Announces Top Green Cars for 2011all 9 news articles »
USA TodayAnd you thought BUYING a car was expensive. The overall cost of owning and operating a vehicle now averages $8776 a year by AAA's count — and that was before the latest run-up in gas prices. AAA's estimate was based on the national Cost of driving has risen 3.4%, study findsAverage car ownership nearly $9000 a year, says AAARising gas, tire prices help drive cost of driving up, AAA saysall 103 news articles »
