WA gas prices dropping, but still above national average

MOSES LAKE — Gasoline prices in Washington dropped over the last week and have been dropping over the last month, according to a report from the online gas price tracker GasBuddy. Washington gas prices remain substantially above the national average, however.  

The average gas price in Washington was $3.93 per gallon Monday, compared with $3.98 per gallon Oct. 28. The company surveyed 2,666 stations in Washington to determine the averages. 

“Prices in Washington are 6.4 cents per gallon lower than a month ago and stand 66.6 cents per gallon lower than a year ago,” according to a GasBuddy press release.  

The national average is $3.05 per gallon and has fallen 2.2 cents in the last week, the press release said. The national average price has dropped 11.8 cents per gallon from a month ago and is 34.5 cents per gallon lower than a year ago, the GasBuddy press release said. 

Gas Buddy tracks gas prices and publishes a 10-year average of prices, both in individual states and nationwide. Gas prices in Washington consistently have been higher than the national average, but the difference went up substantially in 2022. 

On Nov. 4, 2021, the average gas price in Washington was $3.78 per gallon, compared to $3.41 per gallon nationally. On Nov. 4, 2022, Washington’s average price was $4.81 per gallon compared to a national average of $3.79 per gallon. The Nov. 4, 2023, average price per gallon in Washington was $4.59 per gallon compared to a national average of $3.40 per gallon.  

Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis for Gas Buddy, wrote in an email to the Columbia Basin Herald that the substantial increase can be attributed to actions by the Washington Legislature.  

“We believe that the gap can be explained by the cap-and-trade program that began on Jan. 1, 2022, that’s costing refiners for the ability to produce gas, diesel, etc., and is being passed on to consumers, just like it is in California,” De Haan wrote.  

The program was part of the Climate Commitment Act approved by the legislature in 2021. The CCA sets limits on the amount of carbon that can be emitted into the atmosphere and requires companies that go over those limits to buy allowances.  

An initiative to repeal the CCA and prohibit cap-and-trade, Initiative 2117, is on the ballot in today’s election.  

De Haan wrote in the press release that gas prices traditionally go down in the fall, and 2024 is following that pattern.  

“GasBuddy (counted) 26 states where average gas prices have fallen below $3 per gallon (Monday), something that could be less than a week away for the national average,” De Haan wrote.  

“For now, Americans can expect the downward trend to continue in most states, while other states have seen prices jump temporarily due to a behavior we track called prices cycling. We should see the number of states with sub-$3-per-gallon prices grow as we get closer to Thanksgiving,” he added.  

“While most of the attention this week will be on the election, gasoline prices are likely to be a gift to the next president, staying much lower than in previous years when COVID and Russia’s war on Ukraine caused a surge that’s unlikely to repeat, no matter who wins the election,” De Haan wrote.