California Gov. Gavin Newson says he has a plan to lower prices at the gas pump.
The state’s Division of Petroleum Market Oversight said the recent spike at the pump is due to unplanned maintenance at two Bay Area refineries.
What Newsom is proposing is new rules to avoid this kind of price spike. He wants to give state regulators the power to force oil refiners to have a backup oil supply for unplanned maintenance and outages.
Starting Wednesday, a special committee lead by a democrat in the assembly will begin to hold three hearings over the next week and a half to dive into the issue.
The Western States Petroleum Association, which advocates on behalf of the oil industry, told KCRA-TV the new tanks to hold Newsom’s backup oil are each $35 million and would take years to build because of California’s strict environmental requirements and regulations.
Those are costs the association said refiners would pass onto the customer, which would actually make gas more expensive, not only in California but in Arizona and Nevada as well.
Republicans in Sacramento have also introduced several bills in the special legislative session aimed at reducing the cost of gasoline, including a suspension of the state's gas tax and blocking future attempts to increase it.
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