WASHINGTON (AP) - Cheap oil doesn't only mean cheaper gas in the tank. Plummeting oil prices are also reverberating through the budgets of businesses, towns and schools, causing a lot of changes.
The price decline means a car dealer in Illinois is shuffling the inventory of models he'll be selling. People will buy more trucks and fewer economy models. It means a school district in Wisconsin will provide more free iPads to students because of fuel savings. It also means some planned projects in a Southern California city may get delayed because of lost oil revenue.
Energy analyst Brian M. Youngberg says the pullback in oil prices has caught most everyone by surprise.