State Senate advances Newsom’s plan to curb gas price spikes

The California Senate on Friday advanced the governor’s proposed legislation that aims to prevent gasoline price spikes. 

ABx2-1 allows the state to require oil refiners to maintain a minimum inventory of gasoline to avoid supply shortages that lead to higher per-gallon prices at the pump and higher profits, according to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office. The bill would also authorize the California Energy Commission to require that “refiners plan for resupply during refiner maintenance outages,” when refineries are offline and not producing gasoline for the local market.

“Californians are one step closer to getting the protections they need against Big Oil’s price spikes,” Newsom said in a statement. “I’m grateful to our partners in the Senate for helping to save Californians money at the pump. Price spikes cost consumers more than $2 billion last year, and we’re taking the action necessary to help put this to an end.”

The Senate’s special-session passage of ABx2-1 follows approval of the law Sept. 26 by the Assembly, where the proposed law now returns for final consideration.

Catherine Reheis-Boyd, pesident and CEO of the Western States Petroleum Association, said the “Senate vote on ABX2-1 put politics over affordability. Governor Newsom and the bill’s authors are pushing an extremist agenda that isn’t about lowering gas prices — it’s about intentionally raising them so Californians drive less.

“This bill is just a smokescreen for what’s really coming,” Reheis-Boyd said in a statement. “After November’s election, the California Air Resources Board will take action to raise gas prices even higher.

“If they were serious about affordability, they’d be working with our industry on real solutions. Instead, they’re attempting to mandate a system they don’t understand, and Californians will pay the price,” Reheis-Boyd said.

ABx2-1l was authored by Assemblyman Gregg Hart, D-Santa Barbara, Assemblywoman Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, D-Napa, and state Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Oakland.

“Rising gas prices impact everyone in California and nearly every facet of our lives — from how much we’re paying at the pump to the cost of what we’re buying at the store,” Senate President pro Tem Mike McGuire, D-North Coast, said in a statement. “Putting mechanisms in place to help prevent costs from spiking and sending family budgets into a tailspin benefits us all, and working together, we’ve been able to do just that.”

The governor’s office noted that supporters of the proposed law include Stanford economists who in a Sacramento Bee article called it “an economically sound policy that addresses an important problem in a well-targeted way” and the “additional supply would free up refinery capacity to serve Nevada and Arizona, also reducing prices in these markets.”

Others who’ve publicly supported the bill include mayors, local leaders, consumer organizations, environmental advocates, unions and business leaders, according to Newsom’s office.

This legislative effort to regulate refineries began in August.

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