California Gas Prices Still Highest in the Country, but a Little Less High

Just ahead of Christmas, California Governor Gavin Newsom took credit for a drop in gas prices. But that is like celebrating being a little less sick.

“California Gov. Gavin Newsom celebrated a gas price decline of 89 cents per gallon since 2022, when gas prices rose to an annual average of $5.75 per gallon with the onset of the conflict in Ukraine and sanctions on Russian energy,” the SF Examiner reported. “Californians are paying less to fill up at the pump, due in part to the state’s gas price gouging & transparency efforts,” said Newsom in a statement. “We’re protecting consumers at the pump with new transparency on the oil industry to hold Big Oil accountable.”

Currently the national average for a gallon of gas is $3.067, according to AAA.

California’s average cost for a gallon of gas is $4.357.

Within the state of California, the highest priced gas is in Mono County at $5.428 per gallon.

In July, California’s excise tax on gasoline increased from 57.9 cents per gallon to 59.6 cents per gallon July 1, the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration announced via a notice to retailers.

The excise tax on diesel fuel increased from 44.1 cents per gallon to 45.4 cents per gallon.

The gas tax has more than doubled since June 2017, when it was 27.8 cents per gallon.

California’s July average for a gallon of gas cost $4.794.

In addition to the excise tax, California motorists pay a federal fuel tax of 18.4 cents per gallon, and state costs for the low-carbon fuel standard, the cap-and-trade program, state and local sales tax, and the underground storage fee. All totaled, for motor vehicle fuel priced at $5 per gallon, taxpayers pay approximately $1.21 per gallon in state and federal taxes and fees.

Data from the California Energy Commission shows that the $1.21 per gallon collected by the government in taxes and fees is significantly more than the profit earned by gasoline refiners. The commission’s breakdown of gasoline prices indicates that “refinery costs and profit” were roughly $1.01 per gallon on April 29, and were as low as 30 cents per gallon in January.

In July the Globe reported that the California Governor, Legislature and State Air Resources Board were working hand in glove to restrict the availability of oil and gas and increase the cost of gas at the pump so severely, middle class and working class drivers will be making choices between groceries and fuel for the car.

Assembly Bill 3233 by Assemblywoman Dawn Addis (D-Morro Bay) and Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), and signed into law by Gov. Newsom, will authorize a local entity, by ordinance, to limit or prohibit oil and gas operations, according to the Western States Petroleum Association. “In 2023, the California Supreme Court held that State law, and in particular Section 3106 of the Public Resources Code (PRC), preempts any contradictory ban or limitation imposed by a local authority on the methods of oil and gas production in its jurisdiction. The bill seeks to circumvent the recent California Supreme Court case law and Section 3106 PRC, and replace the comprehensive, longstanding State law with a patchwork of local ordinances that may ban or add unfeasible limits to oil and gas exploration, production and abandonment work.”

California is imposing a carbon gas tax that will rise to 47 cents this year. In 2026, the carbon tax will be 52 cents and keep increasing each year.

Gavin Newsom has nothing to celebrate with less high gas prices. In Texas, the average is $2.665 per gallon – a difference of $1.70 per gallon of gas from California’s $4.357. That could buy a lot of groceries every year.

Californians are paying about $100 per tank of gas. Texans are paying about $60 per tank… remember who is responsible.