{"id":68596,"date":"2024-06-13T14:04:24","date_gmt":"2024-06-13T19:04:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=68596"},"modified":"2024-06-13T14:04:24","modified_gmt":"2024-06-13T19:04:24","slug":"california-wants-higher-gas-prices-and-evs-virginia-did-but-changed-its-mind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=68596","title":{"rendered":"California Wants Higher Gas Prices and EVs, Virginia Did, But Changed Its Mind"},"content":{"rendered":"
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California Wants Higher Gas Prices and EVs, Virginia Did, But Changed Its Mind<\/a><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Common sense returns to Virginia as California Governor Gavin Newsom Struggles to defend inane policy. Let\u2019s start with Newsom and gasoline prices.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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In a\u00a0Wall Street Journal Op-Ed,<\/a>\u00a0Newsom says \u201cWhat people pay at the pump isn\u2019t simple supply and demand but the result of a highly concentrated and opaque market.<\/em>\u201c<\/p>\n

Here are the facts. Price spikes\u2014like the $6.42 a gallon in June 2022 that sparked our new price-gouging law\u2014happened when California taxes and fees remained unchanged, and crude prices had actually decreased. What drove up prices were increases in industry profits.<\/p>\n

California\u2019s new law provides us with tools to investigate profit spiking by Big Oil, helping us to prevent supply disruptions and take legal action when necessary. Another potential tool to encourage the oil industry to do right by Californians is a price-gouging penalty that will be developed through a public process.<\/p>\n

What people pay at the pump isn\u2019t simple supply and demand but the result of a highly concentrated and opaque market<\/em>\u00a0that lets a handful of mega-profitable oil companies upcharge tens of millions of people. In California, four companies control 90% of the gasoline refining capacity.<\/p>\n

Factors such as refinery maintenance and lack of planning have been shown to reduce supply and increase refinery margins by upward of 200% at a time. California has also found that traders on the open \u201cspot market\u201d drive up prices, benefiting oil companies.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A Concentrated and Opaque Market<\/strong><\/p>\n

OK, why is the market in California concentrated and opaque?<\/p>\n