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Gas price war leads to big savings in Hastings

Stations in town have sold gas for less than $3.70 a gallon for days now — nearly a dollar cheaper than the Twin Cities.

HASTINGS, Minn. — Pretty sights and small-town charm often attract people to Hastings, but something different has been driving interest lately: gas prices that have hovered around $3.70 a gallon for days now.

"The first thing I'm going to do when I leave work today is going to fill up with gas down here because these gas prices are crazy," said Jackie Finkbeiner, who commutes to work in Hastings a few days a week. "I'm really excited. If I can get cheaper gas here, I'm definitely going to."

Locals will tell you that cheaper-than-average gas has often been a small perk that comes with parking in Hastings.

"It's always been cheap," said Niko Greenwood.

But he admits these prices are a full-blown difference maker.

"I do Doordash and have a lot of traveling back and forth, so if gas is $3.69 right now, it's a big deal," Greenwood said.

"It's usually a little bit cheaper," said Heather Novotny who commutes to Hastings from Cottage Grove. "But it's significantly cheaper than Cottage Grove right now. It's all over the news and Facebook and all my friends are saying, 'You've got to go to Hastings to get gas.' The word is out there."

According to Gas Buddy, the average price for regular unleaded in Minnesota is now down to $4.46 a gallon. In the Twin Cities it is $4.53 a gallon.

Customers have been curious why Hastings is bucking that trend with prices that are nearly a buck cheaper, but nobody is complaining.

"I don't know, but I like it," Greenwood said with a laugh. "I'm okay with it. I'm fine with it." 

The stations themselves aren't saying much, and experts say that's almost certainly because they're locked in a price war.

"These stations aren't all friendly with each other and some of them get really sick of each other trying to undercut prices," said Patrick De Haan, lead analyst for Gasbuddy.com. "Sometimes price wars are born out of that frustration."

Even though wholesale prices have been falling across the country for weeks, De Haan says the gas war in Hastings has led to prices that are likely barely above what the stations are paying themselves.

"There's a reason why these low prices are only in Hastings," he said. "Because no other station wants to shoot itself in the foot outside of this area."

Customers say they aren't too worried about the stations finding a way to keep going.

"Somebody's making some money somewhere," said Curt Arey, who lives in Prescott, Wisconsin. "They're not giving this stuff away."

And despite the tiny margins, this war has been raging for a while now.

"It's been like this down here for like a week and a half," said Walt Zieman, who lives in Eagan, but topped off his tank during a trip to Hastings on Tuesday. "I didn't need that much gas, but as long as I'm in town and it's cheap, I'm going to fill it up. I just hope it goes down more. There's no reason for it to be where it is anyway."

Even if you don't live near Hastings, De Haan says it's a good idea for all drivers to pay attention to prices right now. He says there is always more fluctuation and competition among stations as prices are coming down. 

As for the war in Hastings, even if it continues, De Haan expects prices to tick up a few cents, just because of how low they are right now.

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