Gas Prices Hold Ahead Of Anticipated Spring Increase

By the News Service of Florida

Gas prices in Florida saw a little jump as the past week got underway, but a downturn over the weekend erased the increase.

The auto club AAA put a gallon of gas in Florida at $2.88 on Sunday, matching the prior Sunday, while still anticipating an uptick on the horizon.

“Pump prices are expected to start their seasonal climb soon, as spring approaches and summer-blend gasoline production begins,” AAA stated in a release.

The winter-blend has additives such as butane that are better for starting engines in cold temperatures, while the summer-blend has more expensive components that allow gasoline to remain stable in high temperatures.

Other factors that could increase crude oil prices include growing tensions between the U.S. and Iran and a surge in demand for gas as Americans take to the roads as temperatures go up.

Across Florida, averages on Sunday ranged from $2.61 in Okaloosa County on the Panhandle to $3.19 in Monroe County, which includes the Florida Keys.

Nationally, the average was $2.93 on Sunday, 1 cent higher than a week earlier.

For motorists with electric vehicles, the average kilowatt hour cost at charging stations in Florida on Sunday rounded up to 40 cents, unchanged from a week earlier. The national rate stood at 39-cents a kilowatt hour. In Georgia, the average charge was 41 cents and in Alabama it was 42 cents.