SAN DIEGO — The price for a gallon of regular gas in San Diego soared $0.14 from Tuesday to Wednesday, reaching $6.04. That's the largest single-day price hike since 2015.
For drivers like Joseph Nieto, Wednesday's price hike is serious business.
"It's terrible waking up thinking 'how am I going to get money to get gas so I can go all the way to North county and back?'" said Nieto. "Am I even going to be able to buy lunch?"
Nieto says he commutes up to two hours a day, forcing him to get creative to pay for gas.
"I'm over here having to to borrow money from my family members just to get gas to get to work," said Nieto.
Fuel analysts say you're stepping into a supply chain nightmare whenever you fill up your tank. Crude oil costs have cooled off after spiking earlier this year, but there's another problem.
"This has to do with planned and unplanned maintenance issues at refineries here in California," said Anlleyn Venegas, Senior Public Affairs Specialist for AAA's San Diego branch. "Until refineries are fully operational again, we are gonna see gas prices continue to increase."
The good news? Relief could come as soon as this winter.
"Gas prices will go down between 10 and 20 cents. This usually happens around November," said Venegas. "The reason we do this switch from winter blend to summer blend is to reduce air pollution."
AAA says you can stretch your gas tank up to 40% longer by driving the speed limit and taking it easy when accelerating.
