Washington has surpassed California as the state with the highest gas prices.
In Washington, a gallon of regular gas on Monday cost an average of $4.658, up from $4.459 a week earlier, $4.407 a month earlier, and $4.150 a year earlier, according to AAA. Gas costs over $5 in the counties of San Juan and Pacific, Newsweek reported.
“You are literally the only state that is above where it was one year ago,” Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said recently.
Meanwhile, in California, a gallon of regular gas costs an average of $4.653, up from $4.624 a week earlier and $4.492 from a month earlier, but down from $4.770 a year earlier. Washington’s prices surpassed California’s on Sunday, but California still has the second-highest gas prices in the country.
Hawaii is in third place, where a gallon of regular gas was $4.478 on Monday, and Oregon is fourth, where it cost $4.293. Gas prices were below $4 in all other states, while a gallon of regular gas cost $3.177 at the national level.
Refinery maintenance, pipeline issues, and tax changes are all reasons why Washington’s gas prices have increased.
In Washington, the state’s per-gallon gas tax and other vehicle fuels increased from 49.4 cents to 55.4 cents in July. Starting next July, the tax will rise 2% each year to adjust for inflation, which is about a cent every year. Diesel tax, which increased by 3 cents in July, will go up by 3 cents in 2027, and will increase by 2% a gallon each year starting in 2028.
Also, Washington’s CO2 emissions tax set by the Climate Commitment Act went up by 6 cents earlier this summer.
The refinery maintenance along the West Coast is also increasing prices, according to AAA.
“Gas prices in the West Coast states are soaring due to refinery issues in Puget Sound and California, and reports of an outage at the Olympic Pipeline. Planned and unplanned maintenance at refineries has caused wholesale prices to shoot up and those increases are being passed on to consumers at the pumps,” AAA wrote in its latest report. “In addition, there are reports that the Olympic Pipeline, which carries fuel from Washington refineries to Portland, is down.”
