Islanders get a break on the price of energy — for 24 hours

Prince Edward Islanders will be paying less at the pump for gasoline and diesel Friday, but the deal won't last long.

New federal environmental measures taking effect Saturday will bump the cost back up to slightly above what it was earlier in the week. 

The province's regulatory and appeals commission, IRAC, dropped all four types of fuel prices in its regular Friday review.

Unleaded self-serve gas went down by 2.7 cents a litre to between $1.596 and $1.608 at the pump, and diesel dropped by 3.5 cents to range from $1.581 to $1.593. Furnace oil was also down by 3.5 cents, and propane will cost 1 to 1.4 cents less depending on the supplier.

IRAC's overnight news release also gave the first solid idea of what Saturday prices will look like, as the Federal Fuel Charge comes into effect to replace the provincial carbon levy.

"Including taxes, pump prices for regular unleaded gasoline at self-serve outlets will range from 163.4 to 164.6 cpl [cents per litre] and prices for diesel will range from 162.6 to 163.8 cpl," the commission said.

"The maximum price for furnace oil is 120.5 cpl."

That means a substantial jump for furnace oil, which stood at $1.023 a litre on Friday.  Propane will be unaffected. 

No jump yet from 2nd federal change

IRAC also noted that the federal government's new Clean Fuel Standards regime, "which requires suppliers to reduce the carbon intensity of their products," will come into effect on Saturday. 

However, the commission did not approve any increase for July 1 as a result of that, saying: "The earliest impact on prices would be July 7, 2023, which coincides with the weekly price adjustment." 

Mark Scotto, who was filling up his tank at Mel's Petro-Canada on St. Peters Road Friday, said he thinks the carbon fees are kicking in too early, given that low-income families can't afford to swap to electric cars.

"To force people to jump into that is kind of irresponsible, and I don't think there's enough funding for the middle class to get there," he said, though he acknowledged that a series of rebate cheques will help some families. 

Despite the federal changes, the cost of filling a vehicle's tank is down considerably from one year ago. 

Natural Resources Canada data shows Canadians were paying more than $2.05 per litre of gas on June 28, 2022, with high prices attributed in part to Russia's invasion of Ukraine earlier in the year.

That's nearly 22 per cent lower than current prices across the country.