Gas prices spike in Grays Harbor County

Published 1:30 am Thursday, September 18, 2025

If you drive a vehicle to get to and fro in Grays Harbor County, you have surely noticed an aggressive spike in fuel prices in recent weeks.

Per gallon prices had remained steady throughout much of the summer despite the passage and implementation of an additional six-cent gas tax that went into effect July 1.

Numerous published reports from various media outlets throughout Washington have tried to put their finger on the exact causes of what has amounted to a seemingly overnight statewide increase of 25 cents per gallon or more.

In Aberdeen, Safeway alone jumped from $4.01 to $4.35. The state of Washington, regrettably, now boasts the highest gas prices in the United States with an average of $4.66 per gallon, which is $1.48 more than the U.S. average of $3.18. In late February, Washington ranked third in the U.S. at $4.10 per gallon. Prices dropped as low as $3.89 in early May.

Since the recent spike, prices in Grays Harbor County have started to slowly tick down a bit the past few days. Users on GasBuddy.com have reported a low price of $4.09 at Q-Mart II in Aberdeen, while more than one retailer in town has dipped to $4.29. On the other end, the Shell station in Ocean Shores has been at a steady $4.99 since just after Memorial Day weekend. Prices in Hoquiam and Elma have been trending closer to $5 per gallon in recent weeks. Westport saw prices above $5 per gallon in June.

The Spokesman-Review out of Spokane attributes the recent increase to “a temporarily closed pipeline in the Puget Sound region, repairs at refineries, increased gas taxes and the higher cost for summer-blend fuel,” while The Center Square and KOMO News cite the Climate Commitment Act of 2021 as the one of the main culprits.

AAA Washington concurred with those reports and indicated those issues are indeed at the root of the spike in gas prices in Washington.

“There are a number of factors, including local policy decisions and geography, why Washington and West Coast prices rank high compared to the rest of the nation, but there is another reason for the current jump,” Mellani McAleenan, director of public affairs for AAA Washington, said via email. “Planned and unplanned maintenance at refineries in both Washington and California have affected supply, which was exacerbated by an outage at the Olympic Pipeline starting sometime around September 2. Tight supplies caused prices to rise.”

McAleenan added that this price hike is temporary as refineries complete their maintenance and repairs and market forces stabilize.

“We should see prices trend down as outages come back online and Washington’s retailers are able to switch to winter blend gas (as of Sept. 15), which is less expensive to produce,” McAleenan said. “As we head into fall, demand tends to drop as people drive less, which will also contribute to lower prices at the pump.”

AAA offered the following fuel saving tips:

Tires and maintenance – keep your vehicle in top shape with routine inspections, and in between, make sure your tires are properly inflated.

Plan ahead – map your route before you go to minimize unnecessary turnarounds and backtracking. Avoid peak traffic times. Combine errands and go to “one-stop shops” where you can do multiple tasks (banking, shopping, etc.).

Watch your speed – fuel economy peaks at around 50 mph on most cars, then drops off as speeds increase. Reducing highway speeds by 5 to 10 mph can increase fuel economy by as much as 14%.

Avoid excessive idling – a car engine consumes one quarter to one-half gallon of fuel per hour when idling, but a warm engine only takes around 10 seconds worth of fuel to restart. Where safe to do so, shut off your engine if you will be stopped for more than a minute.

Use “fast pass” or “express” toll lanes – avoiding unnecessary stops or slowdowns on the highway helps save fuel.

Avoid rush hour – take advantage of flex work hours to avoid commuting during peak traffic times.

Anticipate road conditions – watch the traffic ahead and “time” stoplights to maintain momentum and avoid unnecessary stop and go.

Regular vs. Premium – if regular gas is recommended for your vehicle, that’s all you need. Opting for premium when your car doesn’t require it will only cost you money and doesn’t improve fuel economy.

Shop around and save – to find the best gas price in your area, use the AAA Mobile App. AAA Members should enroll in Shell’s Fuel Rewards program to save 30 cents per gallon on their first fill-up and 5 cents per gallon on each additional fill-up.

Now that summer is nearly over and kids are back in school, Thanksgiving weekend will be the next major holiday travel period. Last year, an estimated 70 million people drove to their destinations. This year, we’ll see how much more or less it will cost for you to travel over the river and through the woods to grandmother’s house.