MACON, Ga. — An Executive Order from Gov. Brian Kemp has made things official: Georgia gas tax suspension will end this week.
The measure — which was intended to help people relying on generators save money in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene — was extended last week when Kemp extended the State of Emergency Declaration for counties hit hardest by the storm.
While the executive order let many counties' emergency declarations lapse, it still kept the gas tax suspension in effect for the entire state.
"A lot of people in rural communities we were talking to yesterday are spending a lot on fuel right now, responding to the storm, running generators, to get their wells going, to power their homes," Kemp said when announcing the suspension. "We feel this will economically help people a bit."
The gas tax suspension officially went into effect on Oct. 1.
But on Tuesday, an executive order extending the state of emergency for certain counties in Georgia says that the gas tax suspension will be ending at 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday.
When the clock strikes midnight and Wednesday becomes Thursday, the gas tax will be back in effect at the gas pump, the executive order said.
In a press conference announcing the savings, Kemp broke down the savings directly. For regular gas, customers at the pump could save up to 32 cents per gallon, and for Deisel, the saving is even greater: up to 36 cents per gallon.
At one point, Kemp said there were 1.3 million customers in Georgia without power. That week, there were nearly 600,000 customers unable to turn on the lights.
