Iowa (RI) — There’s a wide disparity in gasoline prices across Iowa right now, and depending on where you fill your tank, it may cost 50 cents more a gallon.
Even the experts are flummoxed by what’s happening. Brian Ortner, spokesman for AAA Iowa, says they closely monitor gas prices daily, and he sees no explanation for the sudden jump to over three dollars a gallon in parts of the state.
Gas prices in northeast Iowa are significantly higher than in southwest Iowa, and Ortner says it’s baffling.
He says there’s no clear reason why prices should be so far elevated in one section of the state.
The average price on Thursday for a gallon of gas in Allamakee County in far northeast Iowa is $3.11, while in southwest Iowa’s Fremont County, the price is only $2.66. The statewide average is $2.91, well below the national average of $3.06.
Here in northwest Iowa, a quick check of prices at gasbuddy.com on Friday afternoon showed a high of $2.94 in Hawarden, and a low of $2.59 in Rock Valley. Between the two, gas is $2.89 per gallon in Rock Rapids, Sanborn, Alton, and Orange City, $2.84 in George, $2.79 in Sibley, Hull, and Sioux Center, and $2.69 in Sheldon and Primghar.
