Rising gas prices strain Yuma County drivers near California border
Arizona gas averaged $4.30 a gallon and California $5.57, widening a border gap that hits Yuma County commuters, farm workers and families driving between Yuma, San Luis and Wellton.
A KYMA social post put Yuma’s regular gas average at $4.57 per gallon, almost a full dollar higher than the previous month. Arizona regular gas sat at $4.30 a gallon and California at $5.57, a spread that matters immediately in Yuma County, where many residents depend on long drives for work, school, shopping and medical appointments. In Yuma, Somerton, San Luis and Wellton, even a small jump at the pump can ripple through weekly budgets.
On June 25, gas prices in Arizona were still falling. By June 29, travelers were taking advantage of lower prices in Yuma. Arizona gas prices were rising for a second straight week, and AAA’s Mountain West Group tied the spike to higher crude oil prices, with volatility along the Strait of Hormuz adding to the uncertainty. AAA also pointed to increased demand, tight supplies and unplanned maintenance. For Yuma County residents filling up before a commute to the farm fields, a contractor jobsite or a clinic visit, that combination adds to the bill.
Some California drivers were crossing into Arizona to fill up their tanks, and AutoBody News put the Arizona-California state line atop the nation for the biggest gas price difference. That gap can pull price-sensitive drivers toward Yuma stations while pushing local residents into a market that can change quickly from one side of the line to the other.
KYMA put the national average for gas at $4 a gallon on July 20, and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy put a recent runup in gasoline prices on pace to cost American drivers an extra $9.4 billion a month. California’s SB X1-2, the California Gas Price Gouging and Transparency Law, was signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in March 2023 after extreme prices in fall 2022.
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