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, Calif. \u2014<\/p>\nCalifornia gas prices climb to $5.78 per gallon on Labor Day weekend<\/p>\n
, Calif. \u2014<\/p>\n
Gas prices in California have surged to $5.78 per gallon on average this Labor Day weekend, a $1.20 increase compared to the same time last year, according to AAA. <\/p>\n
Gas stations in California set their own prices, but all are dealing with high supply chain costs to get fuel into their stations. The holiday weekend has also brought increased demand as millions of Americans hit the road. <\/p>\n
At Ernie\u2019s General Store along Highway 99, one of California\u2019s busiest roadways, owner Ernie Giannecchini is working to keep his prices as low as possible. <\/p>\n
\u201cNever was able to get it down much more. $4.89, and it just started to creep up,” Giannecchini said. “This week it’s just been creeping up. Three cents, four cents, six cents.”<\/p>\n
Regular customer Benjamin Mercado appreciates the effort to keep prices lower. <\/p>\n
\u201cEven where you think it’d be cheaper? This place? Still, can’t beat it,\u201d Mercado said. <\/p>\n
However, Mercado noted that filling up his car has become significantly more expensive. <\/p>\n
\u201cI’m paying sometimes to fill up the car, it’s almost 100 bucks to fill up,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Since the conflict with Iran began, Americans have been paying more at the pump. Last year, the average price for regular gas in California was $4.60 per gallon. <\/p>\n
Doug Johnson, a spokesperson for AAA Northern California, said demand is the primary driver of the current price surge. <\/p>\n
\u201cRight now it’s certainly demand. It jumped a nickel overnight. We’re paying about $1.20 more this Labor Day compared to last Labor Day,\u201d Johnson said. <\/p>\n
He added that the conflict with Iran has made price predictions difficult. <\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately with this Iran conflict, that’s all gone out the window. It’s all demand right now,\u201d Johnson said. <\/p>\n
Johnson also explained the nature of gas price fluctuations. <\/p>\n
\u201cGas prices shoot up like a rocket, come down like a feather so it might take a while,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
AAA noted that paying with cash is often the best way to get a lower price. The organization also said gas prices may drop slightly around Halloween when the summer blend of gas is phased out. <\/p>\n
See more coverage of top California stories here<\/a> | Download our app<\/a> | Subscribe to our morning newsletter<\/a> | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"California gas prices climb to $5.78 per gallon on Labor Day weekend , Calif. \u2014 Gas prices in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":453044,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[178999,30294,179003,179002,7,148,9,8,179006,29033,179001,179000,26177,103623,147,179004,1825,93025,473,174255,266,109564,93308,179005],"class_list":["post-453043","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-5-78-per-gallon","tag-aaa","tag-aaa-northern-california","tag-benjamin-mercado","tag-california","tag-california-gas-prices","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-demand-surge","tag-doug-johnson","tag-ernie-giannecchini","tag-ernies-general-store","tag-fields","tag-fuel-prices","tag-gas-prices","tag-gas-station-prices","tag-highway-99","tag-iran-conflict","tag-kcra","tag-labor-day-weekend","tag-northern-california","tag-regular-gas","tag-summer-blend","tag-supply-chain-costs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/453043","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=453043"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/453043\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/453044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=453043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=453043"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=453043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}