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: Friday, February 11, 2022
22-267-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 – January 2022
Gasoline prices averaged $4.809 a gallon in the San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward area in January 2022, the
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that area
gasoline prices were $1.453 higher than last January when they averaged $3.356 per gallon. San Francisco
area households paid an average of 27.9 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) of electricity in January 2022, higher
than the 24.2 cents per kWh paid in January 2021. The average cost of utility (piped) gas at $2.156 per therm
in January was higher than the $1.603 per therm spent last year. (Data in this release are not seasonally
adjusted; accordingly, over-the-year-analysis is used throughout.)
At $4.809 a gallon, San Francisco area consumers paid 37.4 percent more than the $3.500 national average in
January 2022. A year earlier, consumers in the San Francisco area paid 40.4 percent more than the national
average for a gallon of gasoline. The local price of a gallon of gasoline has ranged from 27.2 to 50.6 percent
above the national average in the month of January during the past five years. (See chart 1.)
2
The 27.9 cents per kWh San Francisco households paid for electricity in January 2022 was 89.8 percent more
than the nationwide average of 14.7 cents per kWh. Last January, electricity costs were 77.9 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 51.9 percent in the month of January. (See
chart 2.)
Prices paid by San Francisco area consumers for utility (piped) gas, commonly referred to as natural gas, were
$2.156 per therm, or 53.0 percent above the national average in January 2022 ($