Taxes on gasoline in the Golden State tend to be among the country's highest.
By David R. Baker
Gasoline is cheap in California compared to a year ago.
But it's nowhere near as cheap as it could be.
California routinely has some of the highest pump prices in the United States, the result of high taxes and the use of a pollution-reducing gasoline formula not sold elsewhere. But the premium we pay historically hovered between 25 and 35 cents per gallon. Relatively new expenses related to California's fight against global warming have added about 15 cents to that premium, but it can't explain the elevated prices that have persisted for 18 months.
By one estimate, the unusually wide gap between California's gasoline prices and the national average has cost the state's drivers more than $10 billion.
A panel of fuel-market experts convened by the state government has tried for months to pinpoint causes for the high prices. It will meet again Tuesday.
But despite exploring a number of possible answers, including the role and pricing power of refineries, the panel's chairman says he and his colleagues may not be able to prove any of them. Doing so, he said, would likely require far greater legal authority than the panel has.
“We have no subpoena power, we have no investigative power - all we can do is ask people to come talk to us,” said UC Berkeley energy economist Severin Borenstein, chairman of the state's Petroleum Market Advisory Committee. “If someone is going to really dig in, it's going to take more power.”
California Attorney General Kamala Harris has a representative on the committee, and in June, her office reportedly issued subpoenas to several oil companies, seeking information on gasoline supplies and pricing. (A spokesman for the attorney general declined to comment.)
But her office has investigated California's gasoline market before and come away empty-handed. And Borenstein fears that most state officials are ignoring the problem.
“There seems to be almost no interest among policy makers, and the reason is that prices are low,” he said. “Given that we're talking about billions of dollars, I think it'd be a good idea for California to make a bigger effort to find out going on.”
The Western States Petroleum Association did not respond to a request for comment by deadline.
Even in the best of circumstances, Californians pay more for gasoline than most Americans.
Taxes on gasoline in the Golden State tend to be among the country's highest. Federal, state and local taxes and fees add more than 50 cents per gallon for California drivers, according to the American Petroleum Institute - 9 cents more than the national average.
The state's “cap and trade” system for reining in the greenhouse gases behind climate change tacks on another 11 cents. A regulation that requires oil companies to lower the “carbon intensity” of the fuels they sell in California adds an estimated 4 cents. The California Energy Commission includes both expenses and several others under “distribution and marketing” (see accompanying graphic).
But the state also suffers from having a market largely cut off from outside suppliers.
California uses its own gasoline blends, designed to fight air pollution. Other states use different blends, so most of California's fuel comes from refineries located within the state.
If mechanical problems hobble one or more of those refineries, bringing in extra supplies from outside the state can take weeks. No pipelines connect California to the refineries on the Gulf Coast, so any imports must come by ship, traveling either from Asia or through the Panama Canal.
In February 2015, part of a Los Angeles County refinery then-owned by ExxonMobil exploded, and did not return to normal operations until May of this year. Gasoline prices jumped after the explosion, eventually hitting $3.44 for a gallon of regular, according to GasBuddy.com. The national average, in contrast, was $2.46.
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