Gasoline prices in Stockton and the rest of California rose 1.6 cents a gallon Tuesday thanks to a scheduled excise tax increase.
And prices at the pump will likely go even higher with an updated gas formulation that also kicked in Tuesday, the start of the fiscal year.
But there’s good news for local motorists heading into the long Fourth of July weekend, when AAA estimates that 61.6 million Americans will hit the road. Gas prices are slightly lower in San Joaquin County than many other parts of California.
A gallon of regular gas in the county averaged $4.47 a gallon Tuesday, compared to a statewide average of $4.58 a gallon, according to AAA. Even Sacramento County was a couple cents higher.
Making a holiday weekend getaway to the Monterey coast or Napa wine country? Fill up before you go because gas prices are substantially higher in those counties – an average $4.83 in Monterey and $4.89 in Napa.
For Stockton’s bargain hunters, GasBuddy.com, a gas-price survey site, showed two stations offering the lowest nearby prices. Star Gas & Wash on east Park Street and Miracle Mile Gas on Harding Way both were listed as selling gas at $3.87 a gallon Tuesday.
The nation’s average gas price, driven by states with much lower tax rates and less complicated fuel formulas, is $3.18 a gallon.
California’s excise tax has been stepped up every year for nearly a decade because of inflation. The annual increase was passed by the Legislature in 2017 to keep abreast of the cost of repairing roads.
The bigger issue for prices at the pump in the coming months, however, could be low-carbon fuels, which Gov. Gavin Newsom says will add 5 to 8 cents a gallon to California gas prices. The new formulation involving biofuels is aimed at reducing carbon dioxide emissions.
In 2011, the last time a new state standard was set for gasoline, prices rose 9 cents a gallon, CalMatters reports.
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