Gas prices have dropped 10 consecutive weeks in Arizona.
Sierra Vista’s gas prices remain above other cities in the state but dropped to the $2 mark at some local stations on Saturday, when the price-per-gallon had fallen to about $1.83 in Tucson and $1.82 on average in the United States, according AAA from fuel prices tracked by the Oil Price Information Service.
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The state average hit $1.92 per gallon for regular unleaded on Saturday, as local gas stations dropped to $2. In recent weeks, Sierra Vista’s higher-than-average prices have continued to anger consumers.
A number of factors including local competition, or lack thereof, can influence prices at the local level, said Linda Gorman, spokeswoman for AAA Arizona.
Often gas prices aren’t set at the local level but at a corporate level, as Gas City has said is their practice in the past.
In those cases, gas prices are set for a zone and not by individual station managers, she said.
The type of gasoline for sale also is a factor. Fuels sold in the Phoenix metropolitan areas during the winter are a cleaner burning fuel mandated by the Environmental Protection Agency, which is more expensive to produce compared to regular unleaded. During the winter, a special oxygenated fuel is sold in Tucson.
Most of the state’s gasoline is transported by pipelines from El Paso and Los Angeles, and conditions of the refineries and transportation can impact prices, she said.
The contracted wholesale prices for gas stations and speculation in gasoline futures are also price setting factors.
If consumers are worried about price gouging, when prices are set unreasonably high for needed goods and services during an emergency or disaster, she encourages them to get in touch with the state Attorney General’s Office.
Although Attorney General Terry Goddard has supported anti-price gouging laws at the state and national levels, Arizona doesn’t have such laws.
Unless there is proof of price fixing or monopolization, higher gas stations with than average gas prices aren’t breaking the law, according to the attorney general’s Web site.
Current gas prices are varying widely across the state, so Sierra Vista isn’t alone, Gorman said.
Flagstaff had the highest citywide fuel average, $2.18, on Thursday out of the cities tracked by AAA. Sierra Vista’s average fuel price is not tracked by AAA, she said.
Selected gas stations throughout the county had prices ranging from $1.96 in Bisbee, $1.80 in Willcox, $2 in Douglas and Huachuca City and $2.01 and $2.38 in Benson on Saturday and Sunday.
Herald/Review reporter Laura Ory can be reached at 515-4683 or by e-mail at svhnews@transedge.com.
