A report released Wednesday by the Economic Vitality Corporation (EVC) says the major reason gasoline prices in San Luis Obispo County are higher than the rest of the state is because of the distance from major gas suppliers.
The report also compares the cost of gas throughout California and the rest of the United States.
To determine how gas prices in San Luis Obispo County compare to the rest of the state, researchers sampled regular-grade gas prices in 26 California cities with different population sizes on random days of the year.
The cities it sampled are:
Stockton, El Centro, Barstow, Sacramento, Fresno, Anaheim, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara, Salina, Bakersfield, Red Bluff, Marysville, Ft. Bragg, Redding,Oxnard, Susanville, Santa Rosa, Chico, Bishop, Monterey, San Diego, Oakland, South Lake Tagoe and Eureka.
San Luis Obispo County’s gas compared to the state:
The report said San Luis Obispo County’s median price per gallon is $4.18, which was the highest among the 26 cities sampled. According to the report, this price is 26-cents higher than the average of all cities sampled and 46-cents higher than the lowest price it sample, which was in Stockton.
San Luis Obispo County’s gas compared to the country:
The research also found that San Luis Obispo County’s average price per gallon for regular grade gas was $1.50 above the national average. When researchers factored in local sales tax rates the price difference was about 28-cents or 7 percent.
“The relatively high cost of gasoline in the region and California has been a long-standing concern
of businesses, residents and tourists,” said EVC President and CEO Michael Manchak. “The cost of goods and services is impacted by fuel and transportation costs, and this cost difference impacts the cost of doing business and the disposable income of residents.”
Reasons why San Luis Obispo County’s gas is more expensive:
Researchers determined the reason gas in San Luis Obispo County was more expensive than the rest of the state is because of the distance from major supply centers.
The report estimates that trucking costs add about 12-cents to the cost of our gas.
It also suggests that service stations are passing on the expenses of relatively high real estate costs to consumers.
”California’s high taxes and restrictive regulatory environment are the major reasons that consumers here pay so much more at the pump than in the rest of the nation,” added Michael Genest, CEO of Capitol Matrix Consulting, and former Director of the California Department of Finance.
The report was commissioned by the Economic Vitality Corporation (EVC) and was written by Capitol Matrix Consulting.
Click here to read the full report.
