Gas prices across western Kentucky jumped again this week, according to the latest report from AAA East Central. The regional average is now $3.35 per gallon, up 26 cents from last week’s $3.09 and well above $2.58 this time last year.
A Middle Eastern conflict, combined with Spring Break’s arrival, have driven up prices, and locally, drivers are seeing similar increases across the Pennyrile counties, whose averages include:
Trigg County: about $3.52 per gallon
Christian County: about $3.40 per gallon
Todd County: about $3.41 per gallon
Hopkins County: about $3.38 per gallon
Caldwell County: about $3.45 per gallon
Nationally, the average price for regular gasoline has climbed nearly 24 cents in the past week to $3.71 per gallon as spring break travel increases demand. Prices have also surged roughly 73 cents since late February amid tensions involving Iran and volatility in global oil markets.
Crude oil prices remain a key factor. U.S. benchmark crude has approached the $100 per barrel mark, while the federal government announced plans to release 172 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve as part of a larger International Energy Agency effort to stabilize prices.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, gasoline demand rose last week from 8.29 million to 9.24 million barrels per day, while domestic gasoline supplies fell to 249.5 million barrels.
Across Kentucky, average prices include $3.31 in Bowling Green, $3.38 in Elizabethtown, $3.22 in Louisville, $3.39 in Owensboro, and $3.44 in Paducah.
Meanwhile, the national average cost of electricity at public EV charging stations rose slightly this week to 41 cents per kilowatt-hour.
