On gas prices
I have a complaint about gas prices in State College, not gas prices overall.
The fact that gas is exactly the same price at every gas station in this town (with the one outlier that is $0.01 a gallon cheaper than everyone else and the other outlier that is $0.04 - $0.10 more expensive than everyone else) suggests to me that the market in State College isn't as open as it should be.
It used to be that whenever I drove to NJ to visit my parents, I would always fuel up in PA, because gas was always cheaper in PA than NJ. Now, though, it is the case that gas is usually cheaper in NJ than PA. In PA, though, it seems that State College seems to stay higher longer than other places. My latest data point on this comes from this past Saturday. I drove to Harrisburg for an event at the Whitaker Center, and I always check the price at the big truck stop in Clarks Ferry (I only stop there if absolutely desperate). They are the only major station near a bunch of intersecting highways, so they always tend to be $0.05 or $0.10 more expensive than the other stations along the route. It is usually cheapest (among the easy to get to stations that I know about just off the highway) to stop in Mifflintown at the Sheetz there -- they are usually $0.05 - 0.15 cheaper or so than the Clarks Ferry truck stop, and usually a few cents cheaper than State College. Well, Clarks Ferry is at $2.69, and in State College we're still pegged at $2.75 where I think we've been since Memorial Day. I just checked on-line, and the Flying J in Mill Hall (the cheapest gas on the way to NJ along I-80) is at $2.61. I wouldn't be surprised if Mifflintown was around $2.65. A quick check of Pennsylvaniagasprices.com shows many parts of the state where gas is $2.51 - $2.59.
So, the cheap station in our area is $0.14 cheaper than all of the State College stations, and the overpriced station on 322 on the way to Harrisburg is even $0.06 cheaper than State College stations. And it looks like gas is $0.24 - $0.06 cheaper than us across the state.
Something is fishy.
The fact that gas is exactly the same price at every gas station in this town (with the one outlier that is $0.01 a gallon cheaper than everyone else and the other outlier that is $0.04 - $0.10 more expensive than everyone else) suggests to me that the market in State College isn't as open as it should be.
It used to be that whenever I drove to NJ to visit my parents, I would always fuel up in PA, because gas was always cheaper in PA than NJ. Now, though, it is the case that gas is usually cheaper in NJ than PA. In PA, though, it seems that State College seems to stay higher longer than other places. My latest data point on this comes from this past Saturday. I drove to Harrisburg for an event at the Whitaker Center, and I always check the price at the big truck stop in Clarks Ferry (I only stop there if absolutely desperate). They are the only major station near a bunch of intersecting highways, so they always tend to be $0.05 or $0.10 more expensive than the other stations along the route. It is usually cheapest (among the easy to get to stations that I know about just off the highway) to stop in Mifflintown at the Sheetz there -- they are usually $0.05 - 0.15 cheaper or so than the Clarks Ferry truck stop, and usually a few cents cheaper than State College. Well, Clarks Ferry is at $2.69, and in State College we're still pegged at $2.75 where I think we've been since Memorial Day. I just checked on-line, and the Flying J in Mill Hall (the cheapest gas on the way to NJ along I-80) is at $2.61. I wouldn't be surprised if Mifflintown was around $2.65. A quick check of Pennsylvaniagasprices.com shows many parts of the state where gas is $2.51 - $2.59.
So, the cheap station in our area is $0.14 cheaper than all of the State College stations, and the overpriced station on 322 on the way to Harrisburg is even $0.06 cheaper than State College stations. And it looks like gas is $0.24 - $0.06 cheaper than us across the state.
Something is fishy.
posted by Chris at 12:34 AM
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