Anzhe Zhang
Gas prices are starting to look better and better for New Hampshire, at least in comparison to neighboring states, as the average price per gallon of gas once again dropped this week to $3.50 from $3.60 last week. Compared to neighbors like Massachusetts, where the average price of gas is $3.58 this week, and in Maine, where it’s $3.59, residents in New Hampshire pay less for gas on average.
Gas prices have seen a decline of about 48 cents in just a month, falling from $3.98 per gallon at the end of August to $3.50 per gallon by late September.
Due to a litany of factors ranging from inflation, higher post-quarantine demand, and the Russian-Ukrainian War, gas prices in New Hampshire have skyrocketed this year, with regular gas prices peaking at an immense $5.00 average back in June.
The $3.50 average is still higher than the $3.04 average just a year ago, even though New Hampshire has one of the lower average gas prices in the region. And while gas prices did fall for regular gas, the price for diesel has dropped at a slower pace, costing $4.84 on average per gallon compared to $3.14 per gallon at this same point last year.
Across the state, Central New Hampshire encompassing Grafton and Carroll counties have markedly higher gas prices. In Grafton, the average gas price is $3.59, the highest in the state, followed by Carroll county, where the price is $3.57. Up north, Coos county also had some of the highest average gas prices in the state, sitting at $3.55 per gallon this week.
Meanwhile, southern New Hampshire, particularly in the southeast parts encompassing Hillsborough and Sullivan counties had some of the lowest gas prices in the state. The average price of gas in both Sullivan and Hillsborough county sits at $3.46 per gallon, while trailing closely behind was Rockingham county, where the gas price sits at the $3.47 mark this week.
According to a watchdog group, the top 21 gas and oil companies in the country took in $41 billion in profits during the first quarter of 2022.
“I was filling up, on average, twice a week when the gas prices were at their peak which was intense,” Kristin Nelson, a resident in the Manchester area, said, noting that she had a 45-minute commute to work.
“I’m a schoolteacher so now that the prices are going down, every cent counts, so I’m very happy to see those prices go down,” she continued.
