Southern Alberta gas prices drop as consumer carbon tax ends

The federal government has officially ended its consumer carbon tax, and consumers are already noticing big savings at the pumps.

The carbon tax made up about 17 cents on each litre of gas.

Prices in some regions dropped by as much as 20 cents.

“Finally, a big drop in gas prices that we’ve been waiting for. And even better is that instead of carbon taxes going up today as they would have, now we see a pause and a reduction, essentially, of that 17.6 cents a litre,” said Patrick De Haan, GasBuddy’s head of petroleum analysis.

Gas stations saw a surge in demand Tuesday.

Many motorists likely had April 1 circled on their calendars and were out to take advantage of the new savings.

“We’re excited to see a busy day at our sites, and we feel the significance of this drop on our business. Pennies equal dollars, and with this significant price drop, that’s really going to help our guests with their discretionary spending,” said Kelly Klimchuk, Gas King’s district sales manager.

Gas stations could see drivers filling up more regularly as a result.

The cost-of-living crisis has had many Canadians being more careful about how often they filled up their cars.

“With the price where it is now, maybe folks can head out on a weekend and do some cruising. … The pricing is no different than it was seven, eight years ago with this drop,” Klimchuk said.

While critics of the carbon tax are happy, they still want to see further tax cuts.

They want to see the federal government roll back requirements for provinces to have industrial carbon taxes.

“Unfortunately, there’s a catch. We’re waiting to see what Prime Minister Mark Carney does with the hidden industrial carbon tax. He has indicated strongly that he is going to push the cost of the consumer carbon tax onto industrial. But for today, this is a really big deal,” said Kris Sims, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation’s Alberta director.

The end of the consumer carbon tax also means the end of carbon tax rebates.

The last rebate will be sent out on April 22.