Yes. It comes from the EIA's official weekly gasoline price survey, the same data used across the industry.

Why does it need a pipeline?

The EIA's API requires a free key, which stays on your pipeline machine and never reaches the browser.

Register for free at the EIA website — no cost, approval is usually immediate.

Yes — free to use; only the pipeline's EIA key requires a free signup.

Does the EIA survey every gas station?

No. It collects prices from a sample of retail outlets and weights them to estimate averages. The averages are designed to be representative, but a single station can differ widely.

When are the prices recorded?

The EIA collects them on Monday, as the pump price at 8:00 a.m. local time, including taxes. Averages are normally published the same day, or the next day when Monday is a federal holiday.

Petroleum Administration for Defense Districts, regional groupings of states the EIA uses for petroleum statistics. The gasoline table covers the East Coast, Midwest, Gulf Coast, Rocky Mountain and West Coast districts.

Gas Prices Board Screensaver

The Gas Prices Board screensaver shows real average gasoline prices by U.S. region on a split-flap style board, refreshed by a background pipeline from the Energy Information Administration's official weekly survey, using your free EIA API key. It's free, runs in your browser, and ESC exits.

How the Gas Prices Board screensaver works

A background pipeline reads the EIA's real weekly average gasoline price by region, using your free key.

Each region's price flips onto a split-flap style board, styled like a classic price sign.

The week-over-week change is shown alongside each region's current price.

Prices refresh weekly, matching the EIA's own real survey cadence.

How the EIA measures the pump price

The US Energy Information Administration (EIA), a statistical agency within the Department of Energy, publishes weekly retail gasoline prices. It collects them every Monday from a sample of retail outlets using a mandatory survey form, recording the pump price at 8:00 a.m. local time, including taxes. Those prices are weighted and compiled into averages for the nation and for regional groupings of states known as PADDs, or Petroleum Administration for Defense Districts, such as the Gulf Coast and the West Coast.

A regional average is a statistical estimate from a survey sample, not a count of every station. The weekly table headlines U.S. regular gasoline, and the EIA also collects midgrade and premium prices. Because taxes are included, differences in state and local taxes feed into the gaps you see between regions and states, alongside local supply and competition.

The week-on-week change tells you the direction of the survey average, but individual stations can sit far above or below it. A figure here is not a forecast and may not match the price on the street you drive down.

A worked example

You might see the West Coast region reading a real $4-something a gallon while the Gulf Coast reads notably lower — an honest regional spread straight from the EIA's own weekly survey.

Settings & tips

Accent recolours the board digits.
Run automation/run.py gasprices on your pipeline machine to refresh the data.
A free EIA API key is required — see the site's setup notes.

Frequently asked questions

Is the data real?: Yes. It comes from the EIA's official weekly gasoline price survey, the same data used across the industry.
Why does it need a pipeline?: The EIA's API requires a free key, which stays on your pipeline machine and never reaches the browser.
How do I get a key?: Register for free at the EIA website — no cost, approval is usually immediate.
Is it free?: Yes — free to use; only the pipeline's EIA key requires a free signup.
Does the EIA survey every gas station?: No. It collects prices from a sample of retail outlets and weights them to estimate averages. The averages are designed to be representative, but a single station can differ widely.
When are the prices recorded?: The EIA collects them on Monday, as the pump price at 8:00 a.m. local time, including taxes. Averages are normally published the same day, or the next day when Monday is a federal holiday.
What are PADDs?: Petroleum Administration for Defense Districts, regional groupings of states the EIA uses for petroleum statistics. The gasoline table covers the East Coast, Midwest, Gulf Coast, Rocky Mountain and West Coast districts.

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