‘They’ve got to do something.’ Merced County drivers stressed by record-high gas prices
Art Rodriguez stopped by a Shell station in Merced on Wednesday, but he didn’t fill up his whole gas tank. Gasoline, he said, was just too expensive.
“It was $40 and we only filled up a half tank,” said Rodriguez. “It’s gonna ruin a lot of business for a lot of people. People are going to stay home instead of going out.”
Many motorists are in Rodriguez’s position, as gas prices are once again going up, rising above the previous all-time national high of $4.35, according to fuel savings website GasBuddy.com.
For California drivers, the average price is even higher — $5.84 a gallon, according to AAA.
It’s still higher for some Merced-area drivers this week. The average cost of gas in Merced County stood at $5.72 a gallon as of May 11, according to AAA’s gas price tracker. But some Merced gas stations are charging more than $6 a gallon.
The gas hikes are particularly hard on local families. According to the U.S. Census, the average median household income in Merced County is $56,330 and 16.3% of the population lives in poverty.
Meanwhile, the possibilities of a gas rebate for Californians in the near future seem remote, as talks among Sacramento legislators remain at an impasse.
“I feel sorry for the working class making minimum wage out in the fields,” said Saul Calderon, a local retired construction worker. “I’ve heard people having to choose between paying their bills, paying for food and paying for gas.”
Calderon on Wednesday paid $76 to fill up his truck at a Merced gas station. Regular gas there was $6.19 a gallon.
“I’m not worried. I get my pension coming every month,” Calderon said. “The politicians, though, they’ve got to do something for the working people.”
GasBuddy.com credits a temporary decline in gas prices to the continuing war in Ukraine, following a price spike in early March.
But prices have begun to increase again in the last few weeks, as the odds of the European Union sanctioning Russian oil increased. Over the last week, gas prices nationwide increased an average of 15 cents a gallon.
Diesel prices also increased over the last several weeks, setting a new record high for any type of fuel, according to GasBuddy.com
At some Merced-area gas stations, diesel cost $6.49 this week. One gas station, Chevron on Highway 140 in Merced, also sold regular for $6.19, plus for $6.31 and supreme for $6.41.
These prices aren’t likely to go down anytime soon, according to industry experts.
“There’s little, if any, good news about fuel prices heading into the summer,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.
“The problem could become worse should we see an above average hurricane season, which could knock out refinery capacity at a time we badly need it.”
This story was originally published May 12, 2022 at 5:00 AM.