California drivers already pay more for gasoline than motorists in just about every other state.
But even after taking into account state gas taxes, blending requirements aimed at reducing air pollution and other environmental and climate fees attached to each gallon of fuel, it appears drivers in the Golden State pay a lot more than they should.
UC Berkeley professor Severin Borenstein calls the price differential “California’s mystery gasoline surcharge” that roughly translates into a premium of 20 to 30 cents on every gallon pumped in the state.
And that’s not chump change when one considers Californians consume 40 million gallons a day. Multiply that over an entire year and Borenstein says that comes to between $3 billion to $4 billion that is unaccounted.
And here’s the kicker: A state committee that looked into the price discrepancy and turned in its report to the California Energy Commission last fall did not come up with a firm explanation.
“I don’t know why it is,” said Borenstein, who was the chairman of the Petroleum Market Advisory Committee, which was made up of five members from the public and private sectors.
It should be no mystery. It is simply a charge to pay for future lawyer fees for lawsuits filed against the petroleum industry. If the petroleum industry thought that there was a way for the industry to lose the lawsuits that will be filed against them, the premium would be much higher.
But even after taking into account state gas taxes, blending requirements aimed at reducing air pollution and other environmental and climate fees attached to each gallon of fuel, it appears drivers in the Golden State pay a lot more than they should.
UC Berkeley professor Severin Borenstein calls the price differential “California’s mystery gasoline surcharge” that roughly translates into a premium of 20 to 30 cents on every gallon pumped in the state.
And that’s not chump change when one considers Californians consume 40 million gallons a day. Multiply that over an entire year and Borenstein says that comes to between $3 billion to $4 billion that is unaccounted.
And here’s the kicker: A state committee that looked into the price discrepancy and turned in its report to the California Energy Commission last fall did not come up with a firm explanation.
“I don’t know why it is,” said Borenstein, who was the chairman of the Petroleum Market Advisory Committee, which was made up of five members from the public and private sectors.
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/business/energy-green/sd-fi-california-gasoline-20180402-story.html