Gas is cheaper than it’s been in years. These states have the lowest prices, group says

As health agencies encourage people to stay home for Thanksgiving this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, gas prices are the lowest they’ve been in years, according to a release from the American Automobile Association.

The national average this Thanksgiving “is shaping up to be the lowest since 2015,” at $2.10 a gallon, a release from AAA said. Back in 2015, the holiday weekend average was $2.05, the organization said.

“Typically, cheaper gas prices are an incentive for people to travel during a holiday weekend, but that is just not the case this year,” said AAA spokeswoman Jeanette Casselano. “AAA forecasted a decrease in Thanksgiving travel year-over-year due to increasing COVID-19 positive case numbers, renewed quarantine guidelines and the latest CDC guidance. All of this has prompted Americans, who had plans to travel, to reconsider spending the holiday at home.”

The Energy Information Administration estimated that demand for the week ending Nov. 13 was the lowest it’s been since mid-June, the release said. AAA expects that gas prices will continue to fall heading into December.

As of Nov. 23, “half of all states [had] gas price averages that are 50 to 75 cents cheaper than” last year, according to the release.

The 10 states with the “largest yearly decreases” were “Nevada (-72 cents), California (-71 cents), Arizona (-70 cents), Idaho (-68 cents), Alaska (-68 cents), Utah (-66 cents), Colorado (-65 cents), Oregon (-64 cents), Indiana (-60 cents) and Washington (-60 cents),” according to the release.

The 10 states with the cheapest gas are “Missouri ($1.75), Texas ($1.79), Oklahoma ($1.79), Mississippi ($1.79), Arkansas ($1.82), Louisiana ($1.83), Tennessee ($1.85), Alabama ($1.85), Kansas ($1.86) and South Carolina ($1.87),” the release said.

Despite pleas from national, state and local officials, millions of people still plan to travel this Thanksgiving, according to the Associated Press.

This story was originally published November 25, 2020 at 6:13 PM with the headline "Gas is cheaper than it’s been in years. These states have the lowest prices, group says."