Now that spring is in full swing, many consumers are putting away their heavy winter coats and planning road trips for the warmer months ahead. That means more attention will be paid to prices at the pump.

In fact, increases in gas prices during the spring and summer months are typical. As we enter this time of year, Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) explains the factors that account for these annual price hikes and why consumers shouldn’t get too down about the recent bump in pump prices.

Projections for Spring 2015 Gas Prices

After reaching its lowest numbers in years this January, the average price of a gallon of gasoline has been steadily rising since the beginning of February. According to AAA, crude oil prices are still volatile, a sign that gas prices could rise by 20 cents this spring due to annual refinery maintenance and the change to summer fuel blends. However, despite the expected increase, most regions should see prices remain much lower compared to recent years due to cheaper crude oil costs and above-average gasoline supplies.

Why Does the Season Affect Gas Prices?

Gas prices in the spring and summer typically increase from scheduled supply shift to summer blends. Refiners operate on a May 1st deadline to switch production from a winter blend of gasoline to a summer blend of gasoline, commonly referred to as reformulated gasoline, which requires extensive maintenance and slowdowns in production to ensure segregation of the different oil types.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, as part of the Clean Air Act of 1990, requires refineries to supply cleaner-burning fuel in major metropolitan areas to order to reduce smog and ozone pollution during the hotter summer months.

Last year, prices increased in the spring due to refinery issues in the Midwest, but in 2015 increases have been on the West Coast – especially in California. The price of crude makes up the bulk of the cost of gasoline. However, the distance the gasoline needs to travel from crude oil production centers can also explain gas prices in a state. For example, most of the nation’s refineries are located in the Midwest and around the Gulf Coast, so if you are trying to transport fuel from the Gulf Coast up to the northeast, there will be additional transportation costs.

According to 24/7 Wall Street, “four of the 10 states with the highest gas prices are located in the northeastern United States. Hawaii, the state with the second highest average cost of gasoline, is also located a great distance from oil refineries.”

The Good News for Consumers

Domestic production of oil and shale gas will continue to help keep energy prices relatively stable in the long term as more of these developed energy resources are introduced to national and regional energy markets.

Also, analysts point to the decreasing storage capacity for crude oil and refined products as an indication that there may be another short term dip in oil prices. As demand drops and supplies continue to flow in, energy companies look for places to store the oil until they can sell it to a refiner. Currently, the America’s oil storage capacity, the network of large storage tanks across the country, is nearly full. This will help to keep downward pressure on gas prices in the coming months.

This growth of supply is one of many reasons why CEA supports an “all-of-the-above” energy policy strategy that supports American jobs, creates economic opportunities, and protects American energy consumers.

The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management – which manages the leasing of our national Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) for energy development – is currently developing its next five-year leasing plan for 2017-2022. This plan is a critical part of America’s energy policy as it directly affects when and where offshore oil and natural gas resources will be developed.

A recently released draft of the plan includes some good news and some bad news. Let’s start with the good news.

Nearly five years after the Obama Administration canceled a proposed lease sale off Virginia, offshore development in the Atlantic is back on the table for consideration. Governors from Virginia south to Georgia called on the federal government last summer to ensure that Atlantic leasing be considered. Statutorily, the Secretary of the Interior must prioritize the input of coastal governors, and thankfully she’s decided to listen to the will of the governors – and Atlantic Coast residents. New polls show overwhelming support for offshore drilling by Virginians (65%), North Carolinians (71%), South Carolinians (71%), and Georgians (77%).

Why such strong support for Atlantic OCS development? A recent study shows that more than 130,000 jobs and $62 billion in local spending could result in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia by tapping the conservatively estimated 3 billion barrels of oil in the area.

Farther south, it’s a bit of a mixed bag in the Gulf of Mexico. The region has been an energy powerhouse for decades supplying 18 percent of our domestic oil production and spurring job development across the Gulf Coast. While the draft plan continues to include robust opportunities for leasing and development in the Western and Central areas of the Gulf of Mexico, most of the Eastern Gulf of Mexico remains offline due to a congressional moratorium. For the Gulf to reach its full potential and further American energy self-sufficiency, the federal government should have taken the steps now to prepare for responsible development of the Eastern Gulf of Mexico, but unfortunately they chose to close this area of tremendous potential.

Finally, thousands of miles from the Gulf Coast, waters north of Alaska contain some of the world’s largest untapped reserves. While the draft plan does include leasing opportunities in the U.S. Arctic (Chukchi and Beaufort Seas) and in the Cook Inlet, it remains highly uncertain whether these leases will actually occur. The Obama Administration has slow-rolled programs on existing leases and upcoming leases, so at this stage it’s hard to imagine these proposed leases in the 2017-2022 plan would ever take place.

And here comes the bad news. The proposed plan withdraws significant areas off Alaska from leasing consideration – and Alaskan leaders claim this was done with little to no input from them.

So what does this plan mean for consumers and how should the public engage?

As part of the public comment period process, the federal government is asking the public for information on how “the size, timing, and location of leasing activity” could affect various economic and environmental objectives of our nation. Under this criteria, offshore energy is a win-win.

For starters, the energy potential is enormous.  BOEM estimates that the U.S. OCS holds approximately 90 billion barrels of oil and more than 400 trillion cubic feet of natural gas which are technically recoverable. While we’re producing more oil and natural gas domestically than we have in decades, the United States still relies on imported oil to meet demand and will continue to do so in the absence of new resource development. The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimated in its 2014 Annual Energy Outlook that U.S. crude oil production may only meet 50 percent of demand in 2030 and 45 percent of demand in 2040. So, we need to add new areas of development to our portfolio if we’re serious about pursuing energy self-sufficiency.

For our national and environmental security, American resources also further our objectives. New oil fields don’t come online overnight; for large reserves like the OCS it can take years to bring oil to market. Planning for our nation’s long-term energy future requires that policy makers take the steps now to grant access to resources so that in 10 to 15 years and beyond our children and grandchildren can benefit from reliable sources of energy.

For our environment, U.S. offshore energy development will take place under some of the world’s strictest safety and environmental protection standards. Since the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010, regulators and industry have taken unprecedented steps to bolster the safety of offshore drilling. As BOEM addresses in its proposal, OCS operations must comply with a multitude of requirements, including what the Interior Secretary has called “the most aggressive and comprehensive offshore oil and gas regulatory reforms in the nation’s history.” Industry has also taken significant and voluntary measures in recent years, including creating two new entities capable of providing well containment assistance in the event of a loss of well control in waters located far offshore, and sponsoring the establishment of the new Center for Offshore Safety.

Given all the economic, consumer and environmental benefits, Consumer Energy Alliance is urging our friends to write to BOEM before March 30 with the following asks (included on our Call to Action):

• Conduct a wide-ranging environmental assessment of all proposed areas.
• Continue to include all proposed lease sales in the Atlantic, off Alaska and in the Gulf of Mexico in the next iteration of the plan.
• Do not remove any additional areas for potential consideration.

To submit a letter by March 30, please visit Consumer Energy Alliance’s Action Center and submit a letter TODAY.

Much of today’s discussion on electricity generation is focused on the debate between new energy sources like wind and solar, and traditional generation fuels like coal. With the dramatic jump in domestic production from fracking, natural gas is growing its share of our electricity generation. Nuclear electricity provides almost 20% of America’s electricity.

But sitting quietly in the background throughout the ongoing debate is an old standby, hydroelectric power.

Hydroelectric power generation uses the flow of water, from a reservoir or river, to turn a turbine which is linked to a power generator. As water flows past the turbine, it turns a shaft leading to the generator, and generates electricity. Hydroelectric power is completely renewable and has no emissions.

America’s largest source of renewable energy, hydroelectric power generation currently produces about 7 percent of the nation’s electricity while other renewable sources (wind, solar, biomass and geothermal) generate a total of 6 percent combined according to the National Hydropower Association.

Most Americans have seen hydroelectric generation without even realizing it. The Hoover Dam in southern Nevada was built as a large public works project started in 1931 and completed in 1936. The installation creates enough power to sever 1.3 million people.

There are more than 2200 hydroelectric generation sites across every state in the country, and they form regional clusters in the northwest, southeast and northeast. Fifty two percent of our hydroelectric generation capacity is owned and operated by the federal government through the Army Corps of Engineers, the Bureau of Reclamation and other agencies. The remaining 48% is owned by public and private utility companies.

• Click here for an interactive map of the location of hydroelectric plants across the country.

Hydroelectric power generation has the potential to grow as a sustainable power source in the coming years as states look to increase electricity production, but keep emissions low. In 2012, the Department of Energy found that by installing hydroelectric generation on non-powered dams, America could increase its current hydroelectric generation capacity by 12,000 megawatts, or 15%! An additional 9,000 megawatts could be generated by modernizing existing installations with newer, modern generation units. In total, these efforts to increase the use of hydroelectric generation have the capacity to power 96 million American homes.

In 2013, Congress acted in a bipartisan manner to pass the Hydropower Regulatory Efficiency Act. The law includes charges to streamline the permitting process for converting existing dams into electricity generators. Since converting existing dams into power generators is a low-cost, low-risk way to increase renewable electricity generation, it is in the best interest of consumers to ensure a streamlined permitting procedure that takes into account that much of the environmental impacts associated with damming the waterway have already occurred.

The process of converting non-powered dams into power generators could create hundreds of thousands of clean energy jobs and help revitalize communities across the country.