Newsom appears to be referring to an analysis by Severin Borenstein, a professor at the University of Berkeley and former Chairman of CEC’s Petroleum Advisory Committee.
California needs to investigate the mystery gasoline surcharge
In a series of blogpost last year, Borenstein wrote about “California’s mystery gasoline surcharge…the abnormally high price premium California drivers have been paying since early 2015.”
He noted that “higher state gas taxes accounts for about 23 cents of the gap” between California’s averages gas prices and the national average. An average of 3 cents in sales taxes, 12 cents for the state’s cap-and-trade program on greenhouse gases, 8 cents for low carbon fuel, and 2 cents for cleaning up old gas stations sites are also added to California’s gas prices, according to Borenstein.
California drivers are paying about 58 cents more for gas prices due to fees, production costs, and taxes. A portion of that money goes to projects beneficial to Californians such as repairing roads, bridges and other infrastructure.
