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, January 13, 2022
22-76-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 – December 2021
Gasoline prices averaged $4.844 a gallon in the San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward area in December 2021, the
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that area
gasoline prices were $1.606 higher than last December when they averaged $3.238 per gallon. San Francisco
area households paid an average of 25.9 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) of electricity in December 2021, higher
than the 23.6 cents per kWh paid in December 2020. The average cost of utility (piped) gas at $2.047 per
therm in December was higher than the $1.602 per therm spent last year. (Data in this release are not
seasonally adjusted; accordingly, over-the-year-analysis is used throughout.)
At $4.844 a gallon, San Francisco area consumers paid 38.2 percent more than the $3.505 national average in
December 2021. A year earlier, consumers in the San Francisco area paid 44.9 percent more than the national
average for a gallon of gasoline. The local price of a gallon of gasoline has ranged from 25.5 to 48.2 percent
above the national average in the month of December during the past five years. (See chart 1.)
2
The 25.9 cents per kWh San Francisco households paid for electricity in December 2021 was 82.4 percent
more than the nationwide average of 14.2 cents per kWh. Last December, electricity costs were 73.5 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 50.0 percent in the month of December.
(See chart 2.)
Prices paid by San Francisco area consumers for utility (piped) gas, commonly referred to as natural gas, were
$2.047 per therm, or 46.0 percent above the national average in Dece