Gas Prices

Torey

This was part of another discussion and I thought it could use its own thread.

New record highs this morning. $2.16.9/litre at a couple of stations on Vancouver Island. I was talking to a friend who lives in a remote part of Vancouver Island yesterday and he says fuel is $2.50/litre in his community.

Alberta's premier has lifted the gas tax there but BC's government says that they won't lower anything.

kbmbillups1

It is now $4.29 a gallon in Georgia where I live. In some places in Georgia I saw it is $4.59 and $4.79. I guess I have cheap gas. 😳

My governor says he is trying to get our state legislature to vote to have the gas tax which is .30 a gallon removed for now. When we were energy independent under the last administration gas was half that or even lower depending on each state's gas tax.

annbeck62

This week gas has increased 20 cents a day everyday this week. It's crazy and certainly a little unnerving.

Monek Marie

Gas has gone up 50 cents in 5 days in my area. Unfortunately I am making a 150 miles trip every day and its killing my seed stash account.

LaurieLovesLearning

https://community.thegrownetwork.com/discussion/848133/gas-prices

Part of that rise in Canada is also a recent rise in the federal government's carbon tax.

dipat2005

Yesterday morning it was $4.85 a gallon here in the city where I live and in the afternoon I went to the only place in town where the price was $4.63 a gallon. The other stations were $4.69. While in the sister city it was $4.45.

Torey

I heard that parts of Eastern Canada are going to break the $2/litre mark today.

And yet the price of oil dropped by 11%.

????

vickeym

When my husband got gas on Tuesday ours was $4.49 a gallon. I expect it will go up again today.

While our "leaders" say this would be a good time to buy an electric car like the Tesla which sells for around $50,000 US last I heard and would not work well in our Alaska winters or long driving distances. Plus to charge it they forget you need electricity from somewhere. Love the pictures bragging about the convenient charging stations with huge diesel generators in a fenced area right behind the charging stations.

In Alaska we can be close to a hundred miles to the closest town for any real shopping. And if you are actually remote it can be much further. Don't see any charging stations happening out along the roadways "in case" someone needs a charge along the way.

Torey

@vickeym I thought it might be even higher in Alaska. But then I looked it up and discovered that there are 4 refineries in Alaska. Lucky for you.

Tesla's do have a cold weather drawback that they don't advertise. Range is reduced by 50-60%. And they won't start if the battery isn't warm. OK if it is sitting in a warm garage or if it is plugged in. But it doesn't take long to chill things down at -40 or colder.

When you are living in remote situations, current bushes aren't likely to be found. 🤣

Megan Venturella

So no more lockdowns but now we won’t be able to go anywhere anyway. I think I’ll be cutting down on my driving. I knew it was going to happen, but it’s still hard to watch. And it’s probably only just begun. Shipments to local stores here have slowed down as well and I’m not clear why.

vickeym

Megan Venturella Not only have there been shortages and delivery issues from all the other problems but folks did not think about the truckers convoy having a relationship to our goods not being delivered. Every trucker who is part of the convoy or not working because of the mandate and vaccine requirements, are not making the deliveries they normally would be.

Many mandates are still in place by the companies if not the government who is still encouraging businesses to require them.

LaurieLovesLearning

@Megan Venturella @vickeym has a point, although the trucking industry reportedly was having issues with finding drivers even before the convoy(s) started, and shortages were happening, for a myriad of reasons, long before any protests even began. Just look at how long our shortages thread is.

Mandating some out of jobs will have made a further impact & now that some are busy protesting (many of those will no longer have work at this point), that will have made that grow.

It is many things causing these issues and we see a domino effect clearly happening. A person just needs to follow this whole scenario to its source to understand the "who & why"...the root cause, right?

I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but considering the shortages, it is important to keep on thinking wisely and being ready to support oneself & others when times get tough. It's been something that Vickeym and Torey & anyone in a natural disaster prone zone should be very familiar with. This is also why TGN exists...to learn to grow your own.

Remember that Marjory stated years ago how there was not enough food in the state of Texas to last very long if a disaster struck. That's just Texas, but its true in many other places as well.

People have become accustomed to instant and convenient food, or "food" in many cases, and were never taught the importance (or didn't care to listen) to the "old folks" saying that they need to grow food themselves. The excuses were/are many...It's old & outdated, right? Thats work! But it ties me down! My hands would get dirty! That's for poor people. Those were excuses you'd hear (we certainly did). They are not good reasons.

That good homegrown food is not only healthier, but is part of wise planning that can keep you fed. Those "old folks" knew that. What were their priorities...food...or fun & fancy vacation, fancy house, cars or toys? 🤔 I know what they would have chosen.

Many now will wish they'd listened. It may be more expensive now, but it still is not too late to learn.

Now, I think it's time to get back to the original theme of this thread of gas prices.

JodieDownUnder

I filled up at my local service station on Wednesday & the price for diesel is $1.99/litre. The most I’ve ever paid for fuel!!

MaryRowe

Gas prices around here are up about 30 cents a gallon from a week ago, and about 50 cents from a month ago. I'm keeping fingers crossed it doesn't get worse. Voters rejected a raise in gas taxes here a while back; bet everybody is glad of that now!

Michelle D

Gas prices here are up a dollar a gallon over what they were 2 weeks ago. It is really affecting a lot of people. This past week I've heard about many people that are having to choose between purchasing food or fuel. One of the local food banks had been delivering to a few people that don't have vehicles on a bi-weekly basis. With the current fuel prices they are now only able to deliver once a month.

LaurieLovesLearning

Our fuel was 173.9 cents/litre as of today. For in our area, that's high.

Cornelius

In America we can provide all of our and many other nations oil and natural gas needs. The issue is that the current Administration shut down many of our pipelines and drilling sites. They are now going to foreign nations and begging them to pump out more oil!

LaurieLovesLearning

We could be self-sufficient up here as well...but politics. It is totally the same up here. Thus, the rising prices.

jowitt.europe

Well, well... Gas is a hot issue here as well. Austria imports over 80 % of gas from Russia. One can imagine what a political issue it is. But we are not discussing politics here.

We do not heat with gas. We still heat with oil. Luckily, we have already agreed with a company to change our heating system into a heat pump. The change is due in two weeks. Fingers crossed. Then we have to rely on local electricity which comes from water power stations.

yesterday we drove 900 km to see our grandchildren in Germany. The petrol is much more expensive now. In Austria 2,05 € per Liter in Austria and 2,20€ per Liter in Germany. We might have to pay even more when we travel back in a few days.

LaurieLovesLearning

@jowitt.europe We rely on electricity from water power (hydro) dams. The bills are getting extremely high very quickly. The government-owned company is giving weak excuses as to why. It is not the unusually cold winter. It's been cold, but not that cold. Snow is more this winter's issue. I think a lot of people are seeing through it. We have heard that a greater number than ever, record numbers, including businesses, are no longer able to pay their bills.

Be careful. It is not all as good and wonderful as they might tell you.

It is not as green as they might like to say either. Here, hydro dams usually mean flooding beautiful & often very productive valley land. Sometimes, like in the mountains, it can cover important ecological areas and displace many animals.

VermontCathy

Electric cars make no sense in cold, rural communities such as Alaska, Vermont, or northern Canada.

Not only do cold temperatures make the batteries less effective, but it's absolutely necessary to run a heater to keep the car warm enough for the people in it. Heating with electricity takes a lot of power and that will drastically drop the range of the vehicle.

And these are all low-density communities where people have to routinely drive long distances. Electric cars may make sense in urban areas with mild climates, such as San Francisco, but they would be impossible here.

Torey

@jowitt.europe Wow! That makes it $3.09CA/litre. Or $9.11 in US$ for a US gallon.

I can see why you are switching to electric heat from oil. However, we have been told that a heat pump is very inefficient where the temperature regularly drops below -15C. We spend long periods of time in the winter well below that so a heat pump won't work for a good portion of Canada.

We still heat with wood and have an electric back-up (its a combo wood-electric furnace) but I would hate to think what an electric bill would be if we used that portion of the furnace.

@VermontCathy I have been given the same info on electric cars. Their range is dramatically reduced in winter. Most of our population lives in cities where electric cars do make sense for short runs and most people in cities have enclosed parking of some kind where the cars are warmer. But for us rural dwellers, they don't make as much sense. Trucks are needed to haul feed, transport livestock, get firewood, etc. I haven't seen what the range is on an electric 4x4 but I am sure it is less than a two wheel drive.

VermontCathy

@jowitt.europe Heat pumps are efficient air conditioners, but not efficient heaters.

So they work best in hot or warm climates, like the desert or Mediterranean climates. Not New England, not Canada, and not northern Europe.

And the ones you find in spec homes tend to be the cheap ones with low SER. A home we bought years ago, new, came with a heat pump with an SER of 8.

I could see a situation where a 2-car family in or just outside a small town has one electric car and one "real" car that uses gasoline or diesel. The electric car would be adequate for going shopping in the town, going to church, visiting local neighbors, and so forth. It would also be enough for commuting if you work in that nearby town. The gasoline/diesel car would be used for longer trips.

But many rural people have work commutes of 30, 40, 50 miles or more. Electric cars are not a good choice for them. If you have to shop 30 miles away because your small town doesn't have a real grocery store, or a big hardware store, the electric car won't work for that either.

@LaurieLovesLearning Our electricity comes from hydropower in Canada. If prices start to rise, that will affect us too.

LaurieLovesLearning

@VermontCathy I'm not sure where yours comes from, it could be Ontario, but I know that Manitoba sells a lot to the US, and it's often been said that it is sold for less than we pay...not sure if what I just wrote is clear or not.

I'll try another way...many people here think if my province sold it for more, we would pay less. Supposedly it is worth more than the price tag they actually put on it? 🤷‍♀️ They've said this for I don't know how many years...lots.

The government also keeps telling us that we have the lowest rates in the country. I really have no idea, but I think everyone would agree that the price is just too high for everyone at this point. Everything is too high.

MissPatricia

It seems that the price has come down to $4.09 and 3.99. I don't know what is going on.

jowitt.europe

@torey the winters are getting milder every year. The lowest temperature we had this year was -10, but only a few nights. Otherwise it was round 0C. Plus during the day, some minus, during the night. Well, we have made this decision. Soon we shall see whether it works. Our son has warm pump and he is happy. He has an additional wood stove. We have two. And we use them for a higher quality of warmth. But they do not heat the whole house.

@VermontCathy May be there are different kinds of warm pumps. They are quite popular here and used mainly for heating. We do not need air conditioners. Even when it is really hot during a summer day, it cools down during the night. The cool comes from mountain tops and from icy water in mountain creeks and rivers and they are everywhere round.

We will have the heat pump installed in two weeks. Fingers crossed it works.

we did return from visiting our grandchildren living 800 km away. It was the most expensive journey we had so far. We are thinking of an electric car. There are many stations where you can charge the battery on the way, but the cars are still soooo expensive.

VermontCathy

@MissPatricia Prices here have also dropped a few cents recently.

News reports say that omicron variant of COVID has finally reached China, and the nation has gone into lockdown. This has supposedly reduced demand for gasoline, taking some demand off the world oil market and allowing prices to fall.

Torey

@jowitt.europe I had assumed that you would be colder in the winter, being in the Alps. A lesson in not making assumptions. This is one of the great parts of this forum; learning about each others regions, weather, plants, lifestyles, etc.

jowitt.europe

The prices have dropped in Austria as well. Was it an overreaction to the instability because of the war in Ukraine?

nicksamanda11

Ours went down a tiny bit here in middle TN to $3.95 a gallon

Lisa K

In So. Calif even though we have two refineries under 200 miles away, we are paying over $6 a gallon. Granted 51 cents is extra taxes (In Calif, we get taxed for EVERYTHING).