Seattle drivers woke up to a record they didn’t want.
Overnight, the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded in the Seattle area hit $5.72, surpassing the all-time record set in June 2022, according to AAA. Statewide, Washington’s average is $5.51, just 5 cents shy of the state record. The national average is $4.18.
That means Seattle drivers are paying $1.54 more per gallon than the average American. And unlike the last time prices hit this level, today’s record comes with a surcharge that didn’t exist in 2022.
When Washington set its previous gas price record in 2022, the Climate Commitment Act (CCA) hadn’t taken effect yet. That matters. The CCA’s cap-and-invest carbon auction program adds an estimated 52 to 57 cents per gallon as a pass-through cost to Washington drivers, on top of the state’s 55.4-cent-per-gallon gas tax, the third-highest in the country.
Put another way: the 2022 record was driven entirely by global forces. Today’s record has a made-in-Olympia surcharge baked in.
…State Senator Drew MacEwen, R-Shelton, is calling for an immediate special legislative session to address fuel prices and utility rate hikes, framing it as an energy affordability crisis caused by made-in-Olympia policies. U.S. Representative Michael Baumgartner has urged Washington Governor Bob Ferguson to temporarily pause CCA carbon auction costs.