Governor Gavin Newsom’s plan to establish an oversight committee to hold the oil industry accountable for profiteering on gas prices and penalize oil refineries when their profit margins soar too steep was adopted by California senators by a vote of 30-8. To hold “Big Oil” responsible, Gov. Newsom’s new transparency and accountability measures include a price-gouging penalty.
The goal of the price gouging penalty is to discourage price gouging of California consumers in the first place. This measure authorizes the CEC via a public rulemaking process, and informed by expert analysis, to impose a civil penalty on refiners who have engaged in price gouging.
Governor Newsom said, “For decades, oil companies have gotten away with ripping off California families while making record profits and hiding their books from public view,” Newsom said in a statement. “With this proposal, California leaders are ending the era of oil’s outsized influence and holding them accountable. Thanks to the Senate’s quick action, we’re getting this done for California families.” “Gas prices are too high. Time to enact a windfall profits tax directly on oil companies that are ripping you off at the pump.”
California had a thriving sector that played a significant role in the state’s economy for many years and was one of the top oil producers in the country. According to federal data, the state is currently the seventh-largest oil producer in the country.
Authored by Senator Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley), co-sponsored by Attorney General Rob Bonta and approved by a supermajority in both the Senate and Assembly, SBx1-2 creates a dedicated, day-in and day-out, independent watchdog to root out price gouging by oil companies and authorizes the California Energy Commission (CEC) to create a penalty to hold the industry accountable. The law will go into effect on June 26, the 91st day after the end of the special session.
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