SACRAMENTO (May 16, 2024) – Assemblymember Diane Dixon (R-Newport Beach) provided the following statement on the Petroleum Oversight Hearing:
“To provide transparency and accountability about California’s high gas prices, I introduced Assembly Bill 2912, or the GAS PRICES ACT. This measure would have required the California Energy Commission (CEC) to post monthly on their website the price difference between California and the national average and how much this difference has decreased due to SB X1-2, the Governor’s “price gouging” law. Unfortunately, the AB 2912 did not even get set for a committee hearing.
“Interestingly, yesterday’s Assembly Utilities and Energy oversight hearing specifically focused on impacts from SB X1-2 becoming law. A year later we can definitively say it has not made prices better. Disincentivizing oil and gas production negatively impacts oil supply and increases costs for Californians. Unsurprisingly, Californians pay the highest gas prices and gas taxes in the nation.
“Our costs are consistently more than 50% above the national average. In fact, the CEC has data showing that the government makes 9-times the amount of profit that oil companies do per gallon. To make matters worse, on July 1 the yearly gas tax increase will go into effect – ensuring that $0.59 cents per gallon in taxes will go to the State of California. This is unacceptable and we can do better for the hardworking and over taxed people of California.”