California Gas Prices Now Above What They Were Just Before COVID-19 Lockdown
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — California gas prices have rebounded to the point they are now above the average they were at last year before the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to AAA, as of Thursday, California's average gas price is now up to $3.783. Just before last year's April crash, the average price was $3.415.
Thursday marks one year since the World Health Organization declared coronavirus a global pandemic.
When the world started locking down and California implemented a statewide stay-at-home order, gas prices started to plummet. It got to the point that, by April 2020, prices fell below $2 a gallon in parts of Central California.
Sacramento gas prices never dropped below that mark, but some stations did see prices hover just above $2. By May 2020, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, California's statewide average gas price fell to $2.771 - the first time the average had fallen below $3 since December 2016.
The average gas price in California has been steadily increasing since then, however, as the state slowly reopened.
Nationally, according to AAA, the average price of gas is at $2.826 as of Thursday.