Some SLO County gas stations are charging more than $5 a gallon as prices reach 5-year high
Five seems to be the magic number for gas prices in San Luis Obispo County this month.
In November, local fuel prices hit a five-year high, as prices at a handful of stations surpassed $5 per gallon, according to GasBuddy.com.
San Luis Obispo County also had the fifth most expensive gas in the United States as of Monday, with retailers charging an average of $4.73 per gallon at the pump.
Prices have been steadily increasing across the state, with one of the largest jumps in costs at the pump coming in the past week in spite of the switch to a cheaper blend of gasoline.
California gas stations are required to sell a different blend of gasoline between April and October that burns more cleanly in hotter temperatures. But in November, they can start selling a so-called “winter blend” that is traditionally less expensive to produce.
This year, however, one of the blend’s components “is significantly more expensive than in prior years,” according to the American Automobile Association. That could be contributing to the jump in fuel prices across the state.
In San Luis Obispo County, the average cost of a gallon of gas surpassed $4.70 for the first time in at least the past five years on Nov. 3, though data going further back was not immediately available.
The previous peak in gas prices was in October 2019, when gas prices capped out at $4.323 per gallon, according to GasBuddy.
That was before costs tanked during the 2019 holiday season and the height of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, according to the site.
There is some good news: San Luis Obispo County prices were down slightly on Sunday and Monday compared with a Saturday high of $4.746 per gallon. As the Central Coast heads into the busy travel holiday season, however, those costs could easily go back up again.
Where is the most expensive and cheapest gas in SLO County?
Though the average cost of a gallon of gas locally was $4.73, prices do, of course, vary across San Luis Obispo county.
The stations charging the least for gas on Monday were the Sinclair stations in San Luis Obispo and Morro Bay, which charged $4.35 per gallon. Conserv Fuel and Costco in San Luis Obispo were both also charging $4.35 for a gallon of gas on Monday.
Meanwhile, seven local gas stations were charging more than $5 for a gallon of gas.
The most expensive gas prices were in Cambria, where the General Store on Main Street was charging $5.29 per gallon as of Monday, while the Chevron and Shell stations were both charging $5.39 per gallon, according to GasBuddy.
The Pismo Beach Chevron and Shell stations and the Templeton Chevron were all charging $5.19 per gallon. Meanwhile, in San Miguel, a gallon of gas from the Chevron station cost $5.09.
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