Gas prices at Meijer Wednesday afternoon. Gemma Flores | Collegian 

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has declared an energy emergency amid rising gas prices, but Hillsdale County is seeing relatively lower gas prices compared to the rest of the state.

“The Iran war has disrupted global oil markets and shut down the Strait of Hormuz, formerly one of the biggest global shipping corridors for fuel that processed up to 21 million barrels of oil per day,” a press release from the governor’s office said.

Whitmer’s Executive Order 2026-4 waives certain vapor pressure requirements, which allows gas stations to sell cheaper fuel blends without a waiver, according to the press release. This change will affect eight counties — Lenawee, Livingston, Macomb, Monroe, Oakland, St. Clair, Washtenaw, and Wayne.

In other counties, including Hillsdale, there was never a waiver requirement to sell these blends. 

According to the AAA Fuel Prices Index, Michigan’s average gas price for a regular gallon was $4.08 on April 8, which is lower than the national average of $4.16 for that day.

Gas on Wednesday afternoon was $3.95 at Hillsdale’s Meijer, $3.89 at Marathon, and $3.99 at Citgo. 

Michael Van Beek, director of research at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, said the state government should not get involved in the gasoline market.

“Markets, through supply and demand, are the best tool we have for creating price efficiency,” Van Beek told The Collegian. “Whenever governments try to reduce the price of some commodity, they typically make matters worse.”

If the state does anything at all to reduce prices, it should be to loosen restrictions on the fuel sector, Van Beek said. In an April 7 blog post, he said Whitmer overstepped by declaring an energy emergency without good reason.

State law gives the governor power to declare an energy emergency when there is “a condition of danger to the health, safety, or welfare of the citizens of the state due to an impending or present energy shortage.”

“The governor’s executive order declaring the emergency makes no mention of a threat to the supply of gasoline in Michigan. It only references relatively high gas prices,” Van Beek said. “That is not the same thing as an energy shortage.”

Michigan State Sen. Joseph Bellino (R-Monroe) said he believes the price increase will be temporary.

“I’ve gone through a lot of different fluctuations of gas and oil prices in my life,” Bellino said. “I think when the strait opens up in a few weeks, when we get a little more help protecting ships, the price of oil will go down dramatically.”

Bellino said he understands the economic burden of high gas prices, but he is confident that the Strait of Hormuz will reopen within two to three weeks, as President Trump indicated in a speech April 1.

“This is what we gotta live through because the president wants to make the world a safer place,” Bellino said. “Iran having nukes, having Islamic terrorists running the country and threatening everybody else does not make the world a safer place.”

U.S. Sen. Gary Peters (D-Michigan) criticized the Trump Administration for its involvement in Iran and the impact the war will have on the Michigan economy.

“It’s been one month since Trump put us at war with Iran,” Peters said in an Instagram statement. “Since then, Michiganders have watched gas prices skyrocket. Yet still no clear goal or exit strategy coming from the Administration.”

Professor of Political Economy Gary Wolfram said consistently high gas prices may impact other industries.

“Gasoline is an input into an enormous number of goods,” Wolfram said. “For example, to get a  box of cereal from Kroger, the corn has to be moved to the cereal manufacturing plant, then the cereal has to be moved to the distribution center, then it has to be moved to the various Kroger stores. All of this takes gasoline, and thus cereal becomes more expensive.”

Amazon has raised prices for third-party sellers as a result of the higher gas prices, Fox Business reported. Amazon will be imposing a “fuel and logistics-related surcharge” on its sellers later this month, which may affect consumer prices if it remains.

Wolfram said this is not the only economic impact of higher prices.

“It reduces the amount that people can spend on other goods and services, so they feel like their income has declined,” Wolfram said. “It is a matter of what Sherlock Holmes talked about, seeing and observing.”