Gasoline prices averaged $2.683 per gallon in the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island area in August 2015, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Chief Regional Economist Martin Kohli noted that gasoline prices were down $0.989 compared to last August when area households paid $3.672 per gallon. The average price of utility (piped) gas, at $0.951 per therm, was also lower than the $1.070 per therm spent last year. Electricity prices averaged 19.8 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh), down from the 20.4 cents per kWh paid in August 2014. (Data in this release are not seasonally adjusted; accordingly, over-the-year-analysis is used throughout.)

At $2.683 a gallon, the price of gasoline in the New York area was similar to the $2.745 national average in August 2015. A year earlier, consumers in the New York area paid $3.672, close to the national average of $3.540. For the past five years, the local price of a gallon of gasoline has been within 6 percent of the national average in the month of August. (See chart 1.)

The 19.8 cents per kWh New York households paid for electricity in August 2015 was 39.4 percent more than the national average of 14.2 cents per kWh. In fact, from 2011 to 2014, local area electricity prices in August exceeded the nationwide average by at least 39 percent and as much as 48 percent. (See chart 2.)

The average price paid by New York area consumers for utility (piped) gas, commonly referred to as natural gas, was 95.1 cents per therm, close to the national average in August 2015 (93.2 cents per therm). A year earlier, area consumers also paid a similar price for a therm of natural gas compared to the nation, but from 2011 to 2013, the per-therm cost for natural gas in August exceeded the national average by at least 13 percent. (See chart 3.) 

The New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, N.Y.-N.J.-Conn.-Pa. Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area (CMSA) consists of Bronx, Dutchess, Kings, Nassau, New York, Orange, Putnam, Queens, Richmond, Rockland, Suffolk, and Westchester Counties in New York State; Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, Union, and Warren Counties in New Jersey; Fairfield County and parts of Litchfield, Middlesex, and New Haven Counties in Connecticut; and Pike County in Pennsylvania.

The Consumer Price Index for September 2015 is scheduled to be released on Thursday, October 15, 2015 at 8:30 a.m. (ET).

Technical Note

Average prices are estimated from Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for selected commodity series to support the research and analytic needs of CPI data users. Average prices for electricity, utility (piped) gas, and gasoline are published monthly for the U.S. city average, the 4 regions, the 3 population size classes, 10 region/size-class cross-classifications, and the 14 largest local index areas. For electricity, average prices per kilowatt-hour (kWh) are published. For utility (piped) gas, average prices per therm, are published. For gasoline, the average price per gallon is published. Average prices for commonly available grades of gasoline are published as well as the average price across all grades.

All eligible prices are converted to a price per normalized quantity. These prices are then used to estimate a price for a defined fixed quantity. The average price per kilowatt-hour represents the total bill divided by the kilowatt-hour usage. The total bill is the sum of all items applicable to all consumers appearing on an electricity bill including, but not limited to, variable rates per kWh, fixed costs, taxes, surcharges, and credits. This calculation also applies to the average price per therm for utility (piped) gas.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-691-5200; Federal Relay Service: 800-877-8339.

Table 1. Average prices for gasoline, electricity, and utility (piped) gas, New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island and the United States, August 2015, not seasonally adjusted

Year and Month	Gasoline per gallon		Electricity per kWh		Utility (piped) gas per therm
	New York	United States	New York	United States	New York	United States
2014
August	3.672	3.540	0.204	0.143	1.070	1.060
September	3.557	3.463	0.199	0.141	1.074	1.058
October	3.363	3.241	0.194	0.136	1.014	1.033
November	3.031	2.945	0.198	0.134	0.934	1.035
December	2.775	2.618	0.195	0.135	0.985	1.060
2015
January	2.297	2.170	0.208	0.138	0.983	1.036
February	2.334	2.308	0.220	0.138	0.959	1.007
March	2.479	2.544	0.195	0.136	0.943	0.985
April	2.521	2.545	0.197	0.137	0.899	0.947
May	2.778	2.832	0.192	0.137	0.980	0.930
June	2.862	2.889	0.207	0.143	0.977	0.942
July	2.851	2.893	0.201	0.142	0.951	0.933
August	2.683	2.745	0.198	0.142	0.951	0.932