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Brace yourself for the highest gas prices since 2014

PAULDING COUNTY, Ga. — Brace yourself for the highest gasoline prices since 2014.

Channel 2 Consumer Investigator Jim Strickland learned that convenience stores are paying $2, and soon drivers will be paying $3.

Fuel supplier PS Energy Group reports the average wholesale price at the Doraville Fuel Terminals closed above $2 Wednesday morning.

Energy analyst Chris Edmonds with Atlanta's Enerecap Partners said the retail $3 threshold isn't far off.

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"It always goes up in the summer," driver Kyle McCallie said. "There's nothing you can really do about that."

Edmonds said summer demand is one key to the price bump. The reality is that we can't do without fuel.

"At the end of the day the consumers are willing to pay," Edmonds said. "The economy is good and the consumers are traveling more."

Here's the good news: Edmonds does not believe painful prices will last.

They'll probably be moderate come July or August, and we're probably in the mid-$2 range by the end of the year.