Fuel prices have skyrocketed since February, when the Trump administration’s war with Iran caused the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of the world’s oil supply moves by ship. Skyrocketing prices have put pressure not just on families, but also on local governments, for whom fuel is a large part of their budget.
Davidson County Schools Superintendent Gregg Slate says his district has recently been spending around $60,000 a week on fuel for their fleet of school buses, with diesel costs about 50% higher than they were in North Carolina a year ago.
“Our budget would have taken us to the end of the year, and we would have been fine,” said Slate. But with the rising fuel costs, “we’re starting to run out of money.”
Slate says he has to turn to the county in hopes of covering the increases in fuel and overall operations. If not, the district is going to have to cut positions next year.
Davidson County Schools are not alone.
North Carolina’s ferry system may need to cut back service during the busy summer months if it does not get help paying its unusually high fuel bills – which have increased 75% since the start of the war.
The N.C. Department of Transportation (NCDOT) will be able to cover the added cost to run its ferries through June, the end of the state’s fiscal year, but is asking lawmakers for an extra $3 million to keep the ferries running at their full schedule for the year starting in July.
NCDOT’s 21 ferries operate over seven routes across the Currituck and Pamlico Sounds and the Cape Fear, Neuse, and Pamlico Rivers.
“Ocracoke depends on ferry, and if we don’t have our full schedule, especially in their peak season, it has real impacts for them,” said Jed Dixon, director of NCDOT’s Ferry Division.
Likewise, the city of Raleigh has taken steps to deal with rising gas prices.
Mayor Janet Cowell says the city has needed to almost double the budgeted amount for fuel this year, from $3 million to $5.5 million, in order to help keep services, such as fire and police, running.
Cowell noted that the added fuel budget was despite the fact that roughly 85 percent of Raleigh’s vehicles are electric. She warned that a proposed Duke Energy rate hike would have even larger consequences for the city budget.
“If Duke Energy increases their cost of utilities, that will have a massive impact on the city,” said Cowell. “We’re a very electrified city.”
