SAN DIEGO — A trip to the grocery store, school or work will cost more as gas prices keep going up in San Diego County.
Within the last month, there's been a price increase every single week, including 12 times in the past 13 days, according to AAA. The high cost of gas has even forced some people to drive less.
“Only driving to school, not really driving anywhere else…that's about it,” Kyle Kizilbash said.
The current average gas prices are the highest since November. According to AAA, the average in San Diego County is about $5.02, that's 21 cents more than a month ago and 15 cents more than in March 2023.
“So we are seeing an increase because of the demand, also the summer blend at the refineries is more expensive so every time during this time of year we typically see gas prices go up because of that reason,” Ace AAA Spokesperson Guianella Ghilino said.
California refineries are required to produce the summer-blend gasoline, which takes longer to process and is more expensive, however, it's better for the environment.
While some people hope to see relief in sight, Ghilino said, it's hard to tell whether gas prices will drop soon.
“We for sure can't say whether or not we are going to see you know, some relief but what we can say is that this is pretty normal, things do tend to increase as we approach summer and then they kind of stable out,” Ghilino said.
High gas prices are forcing some people to budget and save money. Alex Wicksman told CBS 8 that he tries to carpool especially if the other person is going to the same location.
“I'm just kind of hoping that it will not increase anymore,” Wicksman said.
AAA said now is a good time to plan ahead and find the gas stations with the best deals.
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