Drivers are seeing the cheapest Memorial Day prices at the pump in nearly two decades this year, even though prices are slowly rising, says AAA Northeast.
In Connecticut, the average price for a gallon of self-serve, regular today is $1.93, 2 cents higher compared to last week, while on the national level, today’s $1.88 average is 3 cents higher.
Compared to last year, Connecticut prices are $1.06 cheaper; nationally, prices are 97 cents cheaper.
“Gas prices around Memorial Day haven’t been this low in nearly 20 years,” said Fran Mayko, AAA Northeast spokeswoman. “But as the country continues to practice social distancing, this year’s unofficial kick-off to summer isn’t going to drive the typical millions of Americans to travel.”
Despite lower gas prices this holiday, AAA expects travel volume to be a record low, she said. In fact, for the first time in two decades, the auto club won’t issue a Memorial Day travel forecast because of the impact of Covid-19 on the economic data used to create the forecast.
With states easing stay-at-home restrictions, demand is expected to rise. Couple these actions with refineries converting from winter gasoline blends to the more expensive summer blends, and Americans can expect gas prices to break the $2 mark in the next few weeks.
Here’s AAA’s weekly price survey of Connecticut’s six metro regions:
Greater Bridgeport $2.08 Lower Fairfield County: $2.10
New Haven/Meriden $1.89 Greater Hartford $1.90
New London/Norwich $1.90 Windham/Middlesex $1.90
Statewide Average: $1.93
Today, Mississippi registers the lowest average per-gallon prices in the nation at $1.51 followed by Arkansas and Oklahoma, both at $1.53, respectively. Hawaii and California continue to hold the highest prices in the nation with $3.18 and $2.80, respectively. Connecticut moved to the 18th from 16th spot on the list of states with the highest gas prices in the nation. Average gas prices may be obtained daily through wsww.gasprices.aaa.com