Gas prices in the Milwaukee area are currently hovering around $1.51/gallon for regular unleaded, according to AAA.
“We’re down about 10 cents from a week ago, about 43 cents from a month ago and down almost 70 cents from this time last year,” said AAA spokesperson Nick Jarmusz.
“We anticipate, barring some unforeseen circumstances, that prices in 2016 should trend below where they were in 2015,” Jarmusz said.
Jarmusz said the price of gas in Milwaukee is below the current national average of $1.77/gallon. He said that’s the lowest it’s been since 2009.
Andrew Meyer, an Associate Professor of Economics at Marquette University, said there are two major factors driving the drop in gas prices.
He said one is a lower demand for oil from the developing world – especially China. Meyer said the other is an increase in oil production coming from both the OPEC nations and the United States.
“Over the next six months to one year, I would expect to see the gas prices stay in the range of where they are,” Meyer said.
That’s great news for Milwaukee area drivers.
“It’s really nice,” Nick Zausch said. “I remember when I was a senior in high school and gas prices were $3.50/gallon.”
Zausch said he’s enjoyed having extra money to spend.
“I actually tend to buy more snacks at the gas station now,” he joked.
Maggie Aschenbrenner said she commutes daily from Whitefish Bay to Elkhorn for work
“It takes me an hour to get there and it’s about 55 miles,” she said. “There have been times where I’ve paid almost $60 to fill up my tank, so these prices have been amazing for me.”
At Bell Ambulance, at Kinnickinnic and Wilson, Deputy Operations Director Scott Mickelsen said the low gas prices led the company to buy a new vehicle that runs on regular unleaded.
He said Bell’s older ambulances all run on diesel, which this year has lingered between $1.77/gallon and $1.99/gallon, according to AAA.
“Our average daily fuel bill is north of $1,500,” Mickelsen said. “So if you get an ambulance that gets double the gas, and the gas is cheaper, it’s going to be a lot more economical to run.”
Mickelsen said Bell expects to order three to four more of the ambulances that use unleaded gasoline by summer. He said they get between 15 and 16 miles per gallon, compared to 10 to 12 miles per gallon for the diesel models.
