SACRAMENTO – California’s new law to combat price gouging at the pump takes effect today. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the first-in-the-nation law earlier this year after calling for a special session of the Legislature to hold big oil accountable for fleecing Californians at the gas pump. California’s law is a model for the nation: a recent national poll found that 89% of Americans support efforts to crack down on gas price gouging.
Watch the Governor’s new video on California’s price gouging law here.
Starting today, the new law:
Exposes price manipulation in real time by requiring daily reports on the market and imports
Helps prevent gas price spikes caused when refineries go offline by requiring refineries to report maintenance schedules in advance and unplanned maintenance in real-time
Increases accountability by getting monthly reports on refiners’ profit margins
Establishes a new independent watchdog, the Division of Petroleum Market Oversight, within the California Energy Commission, to monitor the industry
Compared to 2022, California’s gas prices have been lower and less volatile, with a decrease of $1.50 per gallon, year over year.
Working with Senator Nancy Skinner and the Legislature to pass SBx1-2, this new law creates the Division of Petroleum Market Oversight, a dedicated state independent watchdog to root out price gouging by oil companies and authorizes the California Energy Commission or CEC to create a penalty to hold the industry accountable. The new division will monitor the industry on a daily basis to identify unethical or illegal behavior, and will refer any violation of law – including industry misconduct or market manipulation – to the Attorney General for prosecution.
These measures go into effect today as California works to stand up the independent watchdog office.
Gerrymandering is the bane — well, one of the banes — of our so-called democracy.…
The Senators requested a full explanation of the circumstances leading to this abrupt decision to…
Misty Copeland said of the mural: “I’m incredibly honored to be featured in this stunning…
LONG BEACH—The Port of Long Beach has named Monique Lebrun as senior director of the…
LONG BEACH — The unified command announces all 95 containers that fell overboard from the…
The LA County Sanitation Districts started work Sept 29 on a drilling project on Western…