We are betting the reasons gas prices are higher in Livingston County than in other communities are pretty much the same today as they were nearly 20 years ago.
So, with that in mind, we are sharing the special report on gas prices in Livingston County that ran on Feb. 1, 2004, in the Livingston County Press, back when The Livingston Post’s Maria Stuart and Buddy Moorehouse ran the local paper and gas was about $1.70 a gallon.
CLICK HERE to access the PDF of the special report.
The special report details the reasons we pay more here: location and supply and demand.
That said, that $1.70 a gallon back in 2004, adjusted for inflation, would be $2.70 today, and we are paying about $1 a gallon more than that.
You can probably blame that extra buck a gallon at the pump in part on oil supply cuts in Saudi Arabia and Russia; according to CNN, gas prices hit a 10-month high in September and are on pace to hit their largest quarterly increase since Russia first invaded Ukraine in the beginning of 2022.
Really poor job of covering a good story. What does the AG’s office have to say about price collusion among the Livingston County stations? How many stations are controlled by just a few owners.
Most of the stations in the Howell area do not have a back room to make “more money”. Many do have beer and wine with food along with lottery tickets and cigs to supplement their cash registers. It’s funny when one station price goes up or down they seem to get in line with each other. Just so happens go figure?! Just recently gas prices dipped to $3.04 @ Costco. When did anyone buy gas in Livingston County and paid anywhere near that? So the difference for a 15 gallon fill up at $3.04 and a fill up @ $3.79 ——- $ 11.25 PLEASE explain!!!!!!!!! That’s $11.25 per vehicle………… Plus Costco adds an additive for F R E E !
The pricing is a crock and the reasoning is the same. If I drive 11 minutes away to Costco I can and have saved up to $.75 per gallon. Dealers in Livingston county are greedy. $.75 is a chunk of money per fill up! Stations in the county count on loyalty to a brand /dealer. When was the last time going just a few miles away was dumb or the difference of $.75 per gallon wasn’t considered gouging???!!! That’s exactly what it is G O U G I N G u$!
I find all of this very hard to believe and dismiss this ridiculous report completely. I live in Cohoctah township and the difference in gas prices between Byron and Cohoctah – a distance of just a couple of miles – is as much as 50 cents. The same is true if you go to Durand, Owosso, Corunna, and other cities/villages. There is even an extraordinary price difference between what I can pay for gas in Brighton versus what I pay in Howell. You expect me to believe that it is because our gas comes from storage tanks or that Howell has greater demand than the cities of Shiawassee county or of Brighton? You will never convince me of anything other than the gas station owners are taking advantage of a years long pricing structure that causes the general population of Howell and Livingston county to resign themselves to paying higher than necessary prices. Better reporting and deeper investigations are needed to answer this question than reprinting an article from nearly 20 years ago!