Gas prices see slight decrease this week
NANCE BESTON | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 9 months, 2 weeks AGO
MOSES LAKE – There was a slight decrease in fuel prices this week in Washington, nationally and Grant County. Adams County didn’t follow the trend and saw a slight increase in prices this week compared to last week, according to AAA.
“The national average price of gasoline has resumed its decline, with falling prices driven by easing tensions in the Middle East — just weeks after those same tensions had pushed prices higher,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, in a statement.
De Haan said prices are likely to continue falling going into Independence Day weekend.
“Relief could expand as the holiday weekend approaches, with the national average on track to hit its lowest July 4 level since 2021 at $3.15 per gallon, we project,” De Haan said. “As long as tensions in the Middle East remain contained and the U.S. avoids a major hurricane, we could see the national average fall below $3 per gallon later this summer.”
However, Washington drivers also have to factor in the state gas tax increasing six cents a gallon beginning July 1, today. There will also be a 12-cent increase in diesel prices.
“Washingtonians expect us to deliver on our promises — to finish long-overdue projects, repair aging infrastructure, and ensure our transportation systems can support the needs of a growing state,” Senate Transportation Committee chair Marko Liias, D-Edmonds, said in a statement. “This is a sensible, bipartisan solution that balances multiple funding tools while keeping the system running smoothly.”
The increase will push the state’s per-gallon tax rate from 49.4 cents a gallon to 55.4 cents. Then, starting July 1, 2026, it will rise each year by 2% or about a penny annually to account for inflation.
“This transportation budget will help make our roads and highways safer to drive because it makes public safety a priority,” Sen. Curtis King, R-Yakima, said in a statement. “Our supplemental budget, along with the 2023-25 state transportation budget enacted last year, provides enough funding to add 194 Washington State Patrol officers over the course of this two-year period. This year’s budget has funding to combat impaired driving, and it provides an additional $150 million for highway-preservation projects across Washington.”
In Grant County, there was a two-cent decrease this week, putting the average price of gasoline at $4.40 in the county, according to AAA. Although there was a slight decrease, prices remained higher than in the previous two months, when prices were sitting below $4.36.
Adams County didn’t follow the trend the rest of the nation saw with slightly decreased prices; instead, there was a five-cent increase this week compared to last. Prices in the county are sitting at $4.39, or ten cents higher than the average a month ago, according to AAA.
Both Grant and Adams counties remain in the middle of the pack for gas prices in the state, according to AAA. San Juan County is the most expensive in the state at $5.45, an eight-cent increase from last week, according to AAA. Asotin County remained the cheapest at $3.82, an 18-cent increase from last week.
Washington State’s average fuel prices saw a slight decline this week, dropping one cent from the week before, according to AAA. Average gas prices for the state are sitting at $4.43 and two cents higher than a month ago. The prices remain higher than those of a year ago by 11 cents.
Washington remains the third most expensive state to purchase gasoline, with only California at $4.60 and Hawaii at $4.47 to be the only states with higher prices in the nation.
Nationally, gas prices also saw an increase from last week, with prices now sitting at $3.19, a three-cent decrease from last week. As of a year ago, the average was $3.49, or 30 cents more expensive in 2024.
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