Gas prices across California are climbing again, with averages topping $6 a gallon. In Big Sur, a remote station is charging $9.99.
Donna McWilliam/Dallas Morning News
California gas prices are rising again, and in one remote stretch of the Central Coast, they have nearly hit $10 a gallon.
At Gorda by the Sea in Big Sur, the only gas station for miles is charging $9.99 a gallon. Leo Flores, who owns the Highway 1 station and much of the surrounding hamlet, told the Los Angeles Times that the price is not a gimmick. It is the most his pumps can display.
“The software only goes to $10,” Flores told the Times.
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Flores said the station, along with the rugged hamlet’s market, cafe, hotel and cabins, runs on gasoline-powered generators because the area is not connected to a power grid. That helps explain why prices there are so far above the state average.
On Friday afternoon, an employee who answered the phone at the station said prices could soon climb even higher.
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“Unfortunately, our vendor told us it will be more expensive in the next few weeks,” the employee said, though it remains unclear how, logistically, a price at $10 or above could be displayed. “He is very nervous.”
Flores was not available for comment Friday.
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The station has drawn headlines before for its eye-popping prices. But Flores told the Times that the costs of operating an off-grid business on a remote stretch of Highway 1 leave him with little flexibility. He said landslides that shut down the highway for three years before it was fully reopened in January made fuel deliveries difficult and nearly collapsed the business.
“If the highway is closed in both directions, I’m screwed,” he said.
Gas prices across California are climbing again, with averages topping $6 a gallon. In Big Sur, a remote station is charging $9.99.
Robyn Beck/AFP/TNS
Flores’ prices may be extreme, but they reflect a broader surge hitting drivers across California.
AAA listed the national average for regular gas at $4.091 a gallon on Friday, compared with $5.895 in California. In San Francisco, the average was $6.07 a gallon. In Marin County, it was $6.09.
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A recent CBS News California investigation found no evidence of illegal price gouging, despite years of accusations from state leaders. Instead, the report pointed to a web of forces behind California’s high prices: taxes, environmental programs, the state’s special fuel blend, higher operating costs and refinery closures that have tightened supply.
The report also said California’s fuel market is unusually vulnerable because it operates largely in isolation and depends more heavily on imported fuel when in-state refining capacity falls short.
With nearly 20% of the state’s refining capacity offline, California has increasingly relied on shipments from Asia to help fill the gap, according to the report. Those shipments can take weeks to arrive, leaving the state more exposed to sudden price spikes during refinery outages or global disruptions.
Even so, Bay Area drivers told the Chronicle last month that many would keep driving even if gas reached $10 a gallon.
The California premium: Where the money goes
Current estimates per gallon, based on a $6 average:
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Crude oil base: $2.40
State excise tax: $0.61
Climate programs, including cap-and-trade and the Low Carbon Fuel Standard: $0.37
Refining and special-blend costs: $0.80
Distribution and local taxes: $1.82