According to AAA, the average gas price in Alabama is $3.25 which is up 13 cents from a month ago and down 5 cents from a year ago. Nationally, the average is $3.63 which is 38 cents more than our state’s average.

Clay Ingram, spokesperson for AAA Alabama says prices start rising mid-March and generally hit a peak Memorial Day weekend. The holiday is more than a month away, meaning you might want to prepare for prices to get more expensive.

Ingram says it really all comes down to supply and demand.

“With spring break kind of come and gone for most people, the weather’s warm enough now where people want to get out and about a little bit,” he explained. “There are already people driving to the beach for the weekend and things like that so that increase in demand is the main factor that’s driving our prices up right now.”

Ingram says there are two ways to put downward pressure on gas prices:

1: Fuel conservation; avoiding riding around in the car wasting gas, forcing yourself to buy more.

2: Price shopping; AAA’s free app has a fuel price finder which can show you the lowest gas prices in your area.