GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Grand Rapids gas prices surged Monday morning, with many stations charging $4.29 per gallon for regular gas before jumping to $4.59 by lunchtime — a 30-cent spike in just a few hours.
The sharp increase follows escalating tensions in the Middle East, pipeline attacks, and continued Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries, according to GasBuddy analyst Patrick DeHaan.
"Prices in West Michigan jumped to 4.59 based on things that happened last week: escalations, pipeline attacks in the Middle East, and continued Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries. That is what led Monday to prices jumping," DeHaan said. "To add insult to injury, what was a four-hour major power outage at a refinery outside Chicago over the weekend is now adding even more pain and misery. It hasn't happened yet, but it will happen. The wholesale price of gasoline is now up 60 cents since Monday."
Watch Matt Witkos' report in the video player below:
As of Tuesday, GasBuddy puts Michigan's average at $4.51 per gallon for regular gas. The record average price for regular gas in Michigan was set in 2022, when it exceeded $5 per gallon.
At $4.59 per gallon, filling up the news truck cost more than $47 for just over 10 gallons.
Drivers in the Grand Rapids area are feeling the financial strain. Joe VanderBroek, who commutes from Kalamazoo and works out of Lapeer several days a week, said the rising prices are hitting his wallet hard.
"I see my commute getting more expensive from Kalamazoo," VanderBroek said. "I'm usually going through a quarter to a third of a tank. I'm filling up ... I'm definitely filling up once, maybe twice a week, depending on the frequency.”
DeHaan warned that prices could continue to climb.
"People that go fill their tank up are probably like, 'Why? Why would I fill up? It just went up.' Well, it's about to go up probably even more," DeHaan said.
Prices are even higher on the West Coast. Madison Wadsworth noted the situation in California and Washington.
"They were over $6 during the summer. I think they're going down a little bit now, but it's just insane. You have to drive, you know, 30 miles out of the city to even get to the low $5 point, and it makes it just so you don't want to drive anywhere," Wadsworth said.
Every driver interviewed said they are hoping for a significant drop in prices.
"I like the $2 mark. That's preferable," Wadsworth said.
"Expectations are hard, but like, I'd love it if they were where they were a year and a half ago, two years ago. Like that would ... be kind of nice," VanderBroek said.
Meanwhile, diesel prices are continuing to break records. On Labor Day, truck drivers described the impact of record-high diesel prices on their livelihoods.
This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
