AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTYou have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load.It’s in Valley Center, Calif., on tribal land. Customers relish every penny saved.Listen · 9:06 min David Dickerson was among those who stopped at Horizon Fuel Center recently when its gas was going for $5.39 a gallon, well below the state average.Credit...John Francis Peters for The New York TimesBy Corina KnollReporting from pumps 1 to 25 at Horizon Fuel CenterMay 28, 2026, 5:02 a.m. ETThe black Ford Escape, dusted in dirt and groaning with a lifetime of belongings, sidled up to pump No. 9 on a hazy May morning.Its owner, Elaine LaPlaca-Heston, was headed 40 miles south to San Diego, a city she had romanticized in her younger days when she made it her home. But now it seemed to be greedily siphoning away her Social Security. At 69 years old, she managed the inflated cost of living by cobbling together gig work — staffing events, manning registration tables, assisting travelers at the airport.“I have to watch every dime that I spend these days,” she said.So Ms. LaPlaca-Heston had pointed her 10-year-old car here, to Horizon Fuel Center, an unlikely mecca in the foothills of north San Diego County that showcases an elusive jewel: cheap gas. Or relatively cheap gas, at least.Of course, this is California, the state with the highest gas prices in the nation. But Horizon’s rates — listed at $5.39 that day — tend to undercut competitors that aren’t on tribal land, sometimes by nearly a buck.The cost of gas has long served as a sign of the times; any stress we may have about filling our tank is often a reflection of our current quality of life. Recent months have been downright punishing, with the war in Iran causing prices to spike.Image“I have to watch every dime that I spend these days,” Elaine LaPlaca-Heston said.Credit...John Francis Peters for The New York TimesThank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENT