The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor is the principal Federal agency responsible for measuring labor market activity, working conditions, and price changes in the economy.
For Release: Thursday, October 15, 2020
20-1970-SAN
WESTERN INFORMATION OFFICE: San Francisco, Calif.
Technical information:
(415) 625-2270 BLSinfoSF@bls.gov www.bls.gov/regions/west
Media contact:
(415) 625-2270
Average Energy Prices, San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward – September 2020
Gasoline prices averaged $3.261 a gallon in the San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward area in September 2020, the
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Richard
Holden noted that area gasoline prices were lower than last September when they averaged $3.659 per gallon.
San Francisco area households paid an average of 24.0 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) of electricity in
September 2020, higher than the 22.2 cents per kWh paid in September 2019. The average cost of utility
(piped) gas at $1.812 per therm in September was higher than the $1.527 per therm spent last year. (Data in
this release are not seasonally adjusted; accordingly, over-the-year-analysis is used throughout.)
At $3.261 a gallon, San Francisco area consumers paid 44.3 percent more than the $2.260 national average in
September 2020. A year earlier, consumers in the San Francisco area paid 35.8 percent more than the national
average for a gallon of gasoline. The local price of a gallon of gasoline has ranged from 18.7 to 44.3 percent
above the national average in the month of September during the past five years. (See chart 1.)
2
The 24.0 cents per kWh San Francisco households paid for electricity in September 2020 was 75.2 percent
more than the nationwide average of 13.7 cents per kWh. Last September, electricity costs were 59.7 percent
higher in San Francisco compared to the nation. In each of the past five years, prices paid by San Francisco
area consumers for electricity exceeded the U.S. average by at least 43.9 percent in the month of September.
(See chart 2.)
Prices paid by San Francisco area consumers for utility (piped) gas, commonly referred to as natural gas, were
$1.812 per therm, or 70.3 percent