The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians’ second gas station has made its debut in Palm Springs this weekend, and it is offering some of the cheapest gas in the city.
When will the gas station open?
The gas station, which is at the northwest corner of the intersection of Dinah Shore Drive and Lawrence Crossley Road, opened on Saturday, Aug. 1.
The station is the second the tribe has opened under its “Agua Caliente Fuel” brand. The first opened across Bob Hope Drive from the tribe’s Rancho Mirage casino in 2021. That station has become known as a destination because of its low prices with lines of cars sometimes forming around its many pumps at busy times. That has been a particularly common occurrence as gas prices have soared in recent months because of the fallout from the Iran War.
How much will gas cost?
The newly turned on signs at the gas station list the price of one gallon of unleaded gas as $5.13. Mid-grade was listed as $5.38 a gallon while premium was $5.63. Diesel was $6.03 a gallon.
The station is tied for the lowest prices in Palm Springs and also among the cheapest in the entire Coachella Valley.
The gas price comparison app GasBuddy listed the Walmart just up the road from the new Agua Caliente Fuel as having the cheapest gas in Palm Springs at 5.13 a gallon on Friday.
The Shelee’s Travel Center in Coachella, which is owned by the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians, was shown by GasBuddy as having the cheapest unleaded gallon in the Coachella at $4.99. A La Quinta Chevron was listed as having the most valley’s most expensive unleaded gas at $5.99 a gallon.
GasBuddy reported that California had by far the nation’s highest average gas price at $5.65 a gallon, over $1.50 more than the national average of $4.10. Texas had the nation’s cheapest average gas price at $3.91 a gallon.
Will the new Agua Caliente Fuel offer gambling?
Yes. In fact, the 2,900-square-foot gambling area will be nearly four times as large as its counterpart in Rancho Mirage and contain over twice as many machines (90 versus 43).
There are 24 gas pumps – the same amount as in Rancho Mirage – while the building that houses both the gambling machines and the convenience store will be 9,500-square-feet.
Are any more Agua Caliente Fuel stations in the works?
Yes. Last year, the tribe announced that it would be building a third Agua Caliente Fuel on a dirt lot between the Cathedral City civic center area (which houses the Mary Pickford movie theater and several other businesses) and the tribe’s Cathedral City casino.That station is currently under-construction, but the tribe does not appear to have any recent updates about when it will open. A call to the tribe’s spokesperson to ask was not immediately returned.
The new Agua Caliente Fuel stations are the latest additions to the Coachella Valley’s growing selection of tribe-owned gas stations, which also includes Shelee’s Travel Center and the Morongo Travel Center off Interstate 10 in Cabazon.
Paul Albani-Burgio covers growth, development and business in the Coachella Valley. Email him at paul.albani-burgio@desertsun.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Cheap gas? The new Palm Springs Agua Caliente gas station is now open
Reporting by Paul Albani-Burgio, Palm Springs Desert Sun / Palm Springs Desert Sun
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Paul Albani-Burgio, Palm Springs Desert Sun | USA TODAY Network
