Keystone Today

The misery is rising again nationally and in Pennsylvania.

The Gasoline Misery Index, which tracks how much more (or less) the average American consumer will have to spend on gasoline on an annualized basis, is moving up again, hitting $704 this week, according to the American Automobile Association.

“As long as the supply remains tight, it will be hard for crude oil prices to fall and consumers will in turn face higher prices at the pump,” Andrew Gross, AAA spokesperson, said. “It now costs drivers in the U.S. about $23 more to fill up than a year ago.”

Record-high gasoline prices still average above $4 per gallon, as today's national average price per gallon has been reported at $4.28, up 12 cents from last week. In Pennsylvania, the average is $4.46 per gallon and the misery number sits at $632. The latest Gasoline Misery Index shows that on average, Americans will spend $704 more annually on gasoline now than they did at this time last year.

On May 2, AAA reported pump prices rose again over the past week due primarily to the high cost of crude oil, which continues to hover around $100 per barrel. The price of oil accounts for approximately 60% of pump prices. Pennsylvania's pump prices rose 17 cents in the last week – one of the highest seven-day increases out of all 50 states.   

The Gasoline Misery Index is compiled using gas price data from the American Automobile Association (AAA), average fuel efficiency (mpg) data from the U.S. Department of Energy, and average miles driven from driven from MetroMile.com. The index tracks the average price of a gallon of regular gasoline and adjusts using the average miles traveled by the average miles per gallon of American cars.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), in January 2021 the national average price per gallon of gasoline was $2.33. It has increased nearly 84% when compared to Friday's national average price of $4.28. A number that gasolinemiseryindex.com calls the "Biden Misery Index," Americans are spending an average of $1,024 more per year on gasoline today since the president entered office in January.

In an effort to bring down energy prices, in March Biden announced the release of up to $180 million barrels of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve – the nation's emergency oil reserve – over a six-month period. According to CNN, Biden announced his plans to replenish this supply, starting with the purchase of 60 million barrels of crude oil. However, this will only cover one-third of the supply from the president's record release and will take years, according to the Energy Department. Biden has yet to announce any plans of increasing domestic oil production.