Wisconsin Gas Prices Up To 50 Cents Higher This Thanksgiving

As holiday travelers prepare for their Thanksgiving trips they’ll be paying more at the pump with gas prices up nearly 50 cents per gallon over last year.

The American Automobile Association estimates that 51 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more to get to their Thanksgiving dinners this year. That’s the highest level since 2005. And motorists in Wisconsin will pay more to get to their destinations this year over last. Dan McTeague, a petroleum analyst with Gasbuddy.Com, said that’s because refineries near Chicago and Indiana delayed annual maintenance to supply Texas with gas after Hurricane Harvey.

“Well, there was actually two refineries that didn’t come back online,” said McTeague. “They held off doing a lot of their fall-time maintenance because they had been pressed into service to continue pumping out as much gasoline as they could in the wake of Hurricane Harvey two months ago. So we’re still paying for that in some ways.”

But he said prices have been falling and could continue to fall through through the Thanksgiving holiday.