With Prices Rising, Where's the Cheapest Gas?

Gas prices in the Lehigh Valley have increased by 10 cents in the last month, according to the AAA weekly fuel report, which was released Tuesday.

AAA reports that the average cost for a gallon of regular gasoline in the Lehigh Valley this week is $3.394. That’s on par with what’s going on in the rest of the state, with Pennsylvania gas prices listed at $3.399 for a gallon of regular gasoline, an increase of 6.9 cents since last month, the report says.

But, there is a silver lining in this cloud, since there is at least one filling station in the 18049 zip code that is beating the Lehigh Valley average – and beating it by 2 cents a gallon.

According to user-generated information posted at AllentownGasPrices.com, the cheapest station in the 18049 zip code to fill up your tank as of Tuesday afternoon was the Hess Station located at 4002 Chestnut St. and Colebrook Ave., where a gallon of regular could be had for $3.37.

In nearby Macungie, on Tuesday prices for regular unleaded gasoline as low as $3.37 per gallon were reported on AllentownGasPrices.com at both the Turkey Hill at 141 W. Main St. and West End Trail and the Wawa at 3321 Willow Lane and Main St. 

AAA says the rising cost of gas can be attributed to strong seasonal demand and “planned and unplanned maintenance at a number of Gulf Coast refineries.”

The AAA report notes that the cost of gas in the Lehigh Valley is still—on average—18.8 cents lower than it was at this time last year. The Pennsylvania price is 17.9 cents lower than it was a year ago.