21 cent gas spike in our area since the Colonial pipeline leak

CHATTANOOGA (WDEF) Gas prices have risen by almost 21 cents in the Chattanooga area since the Colonial gas line leak, according to the GasBuddy.com survey.

That compares to a 2.7 cent rise nationally.

Our average price on Sunday was $2.15 which topped prices in Knoxville and Huntsville by about a dime, and tops the state average for Tennessee ($2.12).

“While gasoline prices have drifted lower in parts of the country, it’s impossible to ignore the elephant in the room: one of the largest gasoline pipelines in the country is out of service and a band-aid is not going to fix the problems in the Southeast as a result,” said Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy.com.

“On September 9, a mine inspector in Alabama stumbled upon a large spill from Colonial Pipeline’s large Line 1 pipeline spanning from Texas to New Jersey, the artery and only major source of gasoline deliveries for much of the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic. The pipeline was immediately shut down due to ‘integrity issues’. Since the shut down- which is entering its second week- gasoline deliveries have all but halted and inventories at local gasoline racks have quickly been depleting as panicked motorists fill their tanks, leading to gas price spikes, supply outages and headaches in six primary states: Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia,” DeHaan said, “though prices in neighboring states and regions may also rise as gasoline supply is diverted.”

“Colonial Pipeline Co. has suggested it is working on a go-around pipeline while it fixes the main pipeline, but there is no easy way to fix the pipeline and immediately restore gasoline deliveries. GasBuddy will keep motorists apprised on the latest developments on its blog and is actively monitoring the situation and may active an emergency fuel availability tool should the situation worsen,” he added. “This is among the largest outages of fuel since Superstorm Sandy in 2012.”

You can track Chattanooga’s average gas price at GasBuddy.com live Benchmark.

It says that prices have risen 4 cents since yesterday.

Gas prices in the Cleveland area are lower ($2.07 on average). Here is the live Benchmark for Bradley & Polk counties.

Bledsoe County has the highest prices in the state right now.

Prices are much higher right now in northwest Georgia (if you can find it). (See the county breakdowns on this interactive map)

$2.14 Fannin
$2.20 Chattooga
$2.23 Whitfield
$2.23 Catoosa
$2.24 Dade
$2.24 Walker
$2.30 Murray

DeKalb County, Alabama now has the second highest prices in that state.