CEDARBURG, Wis. — TMJ4 is searching for answers after Ozaukee County residents raised concerns of higher gas prices.
Linda Keller attended our Let's Talk listening session at the Mequon Public Market to tell us about the issue. Others emailed us with the same sentiments; why are Ozaukee's gas prices significantly more expensive than neighboring communities?
"Currently, I can get gas for 30 cents less than I can here (in Ozaukee)," Keller said. "This is a thing that doesn't affect just me, but everyone in the county."
TMJ4 met up with Keller Thursday morning near a gas station in Cedarburg.
Others like Carol Moralez sent us emails over the last week.
"My sister lives in Waukesha, and she said the gas prices there are at 2.79," Moralez said in an email. "It doesn't make sense and it's not fair."
Watch: Ozaukee currently has the highest gas prices in the Milwaukee area
Ozaukee's gas prices are indeed the highest in the Milwaukee area, according to AAA. The average price per gallon on Thursday was $3.061. Along with neighboring Sheboygan County ($3.017), they are the two counties in the Milwaukee area with prices above $3.00.
Patrick De Haan is the head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. He said a number of factors could be contributing to the higher prices. Among those issues are not enough competition and a volatile stock market. In addition, he said, gas stations can often be more expensive to run in affluent areas.
"(There's) a lack of competition in these areas," De Haan said. "Stations just aren't competing at the same pace."
Those answers aren't solving the problem yet for neighbors here. Although Keller lives in Mequon, she will often search out cheaper prices in neighboring counties rather than pay more, as do her friends.
"People are baffled," Keller said.
Wisconsin does charge a state gas tax of around $0.31 per gallon, but there are no county-specific taxes.
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