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Rising gas prices creating trickle down effect on consumer goods

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Gas prices are up across the region and, according to industry experts, they might not be dropping any time soon.

The increase at the pumps is also causing the price tag on consumer goods to jump.

"We are in the first inning of an energy crunch," says Dan McTeague, president of Canadians for Affordable Energy.

In Halifax's zone 1, regular self-serve is up 2.3 cents a litre, now sitting at a $1.439.

On Prince Edward Island, regular self-serve is $1.457. Diesel increased almost three cents to a little more than $1.50.

New Brunswickers are now paying $1.477 a litre, a jump of 2.7 cents.

Diesel increased to $1.55 a litre, up nearly 3 cents.

McTeague says part of the reason is the move toward renewable energy.

“Make no mistake, the green transition has a price and the price is not quite understood, nor is it being paid for, which for me, means that we’re moving to a $1.50 a litre in Nova Scotia,” says McTeague.

Home heating fuel and diesel are up too, making things difficult for the trucking industry.

For trucking companies, fuel is their second-largest cost behind labour.

Now, if the driver is an owner-operator, they have to front the cost of filling their rig.

“You can put $800 of fuel in your truck, you won’t get paid for that load for a month or more," says Jean-Marc Picard, president of the Atlantic Provinces Trucking Association. "Therefore you have to bear that cost upfront, which is a huge burden for some of those owner-operators."

A jump in gas also makes it more expensive for farmers to harvest fruit and vegetables. That, combined with the increase in shipping, means a trip to the grocery store will cost more.

"I’m sure a good chunk of those price increases is because of the cost to get to market and the cost on farms in terms of the usage of gas," says Dan Shaw, a marketing and consumerism professor at Dalhousie University.

McTeague doesn't see any decrease in prices on the horizon. In fact, he's predicting that jump at the pump to a $1.50 a litre could happen within the next couple weeks

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