BizMojo Idaho

03/09/2026

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03/09/2026

Having written more gas price stories than I can even remember, I learned a long time ago that what you want to look at is the rack price, i.e. the price gas costs at the refinery before taxes, transportation costs and markup. There's a great web site called cstoredecisions.com that tracks them week to week, with updates every Monday. In case you're wondering what effect our adventure in the Middle East is going to cost you at the pump, here are some numbers:

The national average rack price for unleaded regular rose this past week from $2.23/gal. to $2.69/gal. (21%). The price in Salt Lake City rose from $1.85/gal. to $2.38/gal. (29%)

For diesel, the national average went from $2.83/gal. to $3.81/gal. (35%). At Salt Lake, the price went from $2.50/gal. to $3.51/gal. (40%).

Buckle up, everybody.

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11/06/2025

Since everyone's mind is on affordability and prices, here's the scoop on gasoline this week. Years of writing gas price stories for the newspaper taught me that wholesale rack prices -- the price of gas at the refinery, before transport, taxes and markup -- are what you want to look at to get a true picture. The web site Cstoredecisions.com does a weekly rack price report, providing national averages and regional figures as well. Here are the rack prices for unleaded regular.

National avg.
Nov. 4, 2024: $2.12/gal.
Nov. 3, 2025: $2.17/gal.

Salt Lake City
Nov. 4, 2024: $2.36/gal
Nov. 3, 2025: $2.23/gal

I remember when gas cost 29 cents a gallon in 1969. That would be $2.94 today, according to the Consumer Price Index. Make of it what you will. I know how emotional people get about this.

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05/06/2025

Memorial Day is only a few weeks away, which means it's the time of year that oil companies start hiking their prices in anticipation of the summer driving season. Having written my share of gas price stories over the decades, the one thing I learned to look for was the rack price: What is charged at the refinery, before transportation, taxes and markup. Cstoredecisions.com runs a weekly graph, which I am sharing now -- the national average on top, the wholesale price at Salt Lake City below. You'll see that unleaded regular on Monday cost $2.26 a gallon. Last year in early May it was $2.68. Between then and now the low was $2.00, on Dec. 9. As for Salt Lake City, the rack price on Monday was $2.38, down from $2.80 a year ago. Happy motoring!

06/11/2024

I've written a lot of gas price stories over the years, and the best advice I ever got was from the president of Jackson's Convenience Stores, who told me to watch wholesale rack prices if I wanted to follow trends. The rack price is the wholesale price from the refinery, before taxes, transportation costs and markup. He told me they averaged about 6 cents in profit on a tank of gas. Anyway, here are the graphs from cstoredecisions.com, which updates rack prices every Monday. Nationally, this week the wholesale price for a gallon of unleaded regular was $2.45, back where it was at the end of February. Out of Salt Lake City, it was $2.35. Look at the line at the bottom. Apart from the big spike in 2022-23, prices are about where they have been on average since 2010, and definitely lower than where they were in 2008 before the economy went south.

10/25/2022

https://apnews.com/article/inflation-biden-technology-us-department-of-energy-climate-and-environment-1679e404be75d06641a01f8579c633d2

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The Idaho National Laboratory in the eastern part of the state will receive $150 million for infrastructure improvements to boost nuclear research and development, the U.S. Department of Energy announced Tuesday.

08/01/2022

In all my years at the Post Register, I wrote more gas price stories than I can remember. Rack price is what it always came down to. Rack price is the price of gasoline or diesel, loaded onto a truck at the distribution terminal, ready for delivery to end users or retail stations. It doesn't include margins, markup or taxes. It varies from region to region. Here's the scoop for today. It might shed some light on what you're paying at the pump.

06/28/2021

http://www.bizmojoidaho.com/2021/06/two-eastern-idaho-women-named-2021-top.html

Medor, president and founder of MarCom, and Karlsson, a research scientist at Idaho National Laboratory, were among the 50 women chosen out of a field of more than 150 nominees. Both will be honored Sept. 30 at the Boise Centre during the 2021 Women of the Year gala.Medor, a member of the Abenaki Tr...

06/22/2021

http://www.bizmojoidaho.com/2021/06/inl-researchers-help-develop-irrigation.html

06/21/2021

http://www.bizmojoidaho.com/2021/06/new-italian-restaurant-coming-to-idaho.html

06/17/2021

http://www.bizmojoidaho.com/2021/06/phillips-named-bank-of-idaho-retail.html