(WXMI) — Motorists experienced sticker shock at the pump recently as gas prices jumped near $4 a gallon in the Grand Rapids area.
We spoke with Gas Buddy analyst Patrick DeHaan, who says the jump in price is partly due to a routine price cycle. However, it was made worse by an Illinois refinery outage triggered by last week’s severe weather.
"That refinery had lost power completely for nearly a week and power has been restored now but with that refinery down for seven days… we're talking about millions of gallons of gasoline supply that are not there,” says DeHaan. “And that is why gas prices have responded by jumping – we are in the midst of summer driving season – the only saving grace here is that gasoline demand has been rather weak."
Grand Rapids last saw gas at $3.99 a gallon nearly a year ago in August 2023.
GasBuddy says it may take a couple weeks for prices to drop.
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