MAINE, USA — AAA said the national average for a gallon of regular was $3.99 on Thursday, down from the mid-June record of $5.02. That's about 70 cents lower than what the national average was a month ago.
In Maine, however, the average has dropped about 50 cents in the past month, with the average price of a gallon of regular sitting at about $4.36 on Thursday.
This begs the question: Why isn't Maine closer to the national average?
“When we look at the Northeast, much of the Northeastern states are right around $4.30 a gallon right now," AAA Northern New England spokesperson Pat Moody told NEWS CENTER Maine. "There’s a lot of factors that go into the price of gasoline: transportation costs, sourcing of where the fuel is coming from, and then gas taxes also play into it."
Moody said most gas is delivered to the Northeast by ship, which is more expensive than gas delivered through a pipeline.
He added that Maine's decision not to temporarily suspend its gas tax didn't help ease the pain at the pump, but he said it also wouldn't have made a huge difference in savings for Mainers. Maine's tax on regular gas is 30 cents per gallon, which is only slightly higher than the national average of 29 cents per gallon.
"Suspending gas taxes can be a challenging thing because that’s where we get our funding for our highway infrastructure," Moody explained. "On the flip side of it, you’re really not saving a whole lot at the pump. It’s usually a matter of a couple dollars, once you fill up your tank, that you’re saving on a gas tax holiday.”
The good news? Gas prices in Maine will likely continue to fall as we head into the fall and winter.
“Gas prices typically follow kind of a seasonal trend where during the spring they start ramping up as the cars go out during the busy driving and demand season, and then [prices] start to fall toward the fall season," Moody said. "And with the market factors at play right now with increasing gas supplies, the crude oil prices dropping, and the demand dropping, it’s likely that we’re going to continue to see gas prices start to ease at the pump and lower.”
Moody said AAA Northern New England has noticed significant changes in drivers' behavior over the past few months, including fewer trips and spending less on other things. He explained that drivers can also take measures to help their vehicles be more fuel efficient.
"There’s a lot of things that you can do to make yourself a more fuel-efficient driver, and that’s [to] maintain your vehicle but also driving more efficiently as well," he said. "A safe driver is a more fuel-efficient driver, so driving the speed limit, making subtle adjustments in speed in terms of acceleration, jackrabbit starts, those types of things."
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