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The April gasoline average in California was largely stable, rising only 2 cents from March. The price gap with the other states eased somewhat as the average price rose slightly higher, up 18 cents, in the rest of the US. Prices have since continued to ease slightly, down another 5 cents in California according to the latest results from CSAA as of May 5, and down 7 cents in the overall US average. While crude prices currently are playing a moderating role on retail prices, Californians are in store for another price bump due to the pending increase in gasoline and diesel taxes on July 1.
Diesel prices—a core factor in food and other goods inflation—saw somewhat larger easing, down 21 cents in California and down 11 cents in the average for the other states.
Average electricity rates and the average annual residential electricity bill continued to break records as the state’s energy and related polices continue to push the cost of this energy source to new heights, even as the state continues to force more household and employer reliance on electricity in the future.
In a tacit admission that state policies have—to use the technical economic term—screwed up electricity costs beyond comprehension and made them unaffordable to an increasing share of California households, the California Public Utilities Commission (PUC) is now moving forward with a rate structure that will break electricity pricing into another two components for the investor owned utilities: a new base amount that varies by income level and the other that continues the standard pricing based how much customers actually use. This new structure layers on the existing rate components which already contain numerous taxes and fees as authorized by the legislature or created by the PUC.
The income-based rate component breaks new ground in several ways, most notably in that it shifts electricity rates away from their traditional payment for services and goods received to in essence a graduated tax implemented through PUC action. The likely popularity of such an approach is reflected in the fact that this significant change was approved by the legislature with minimal to no public notice and debate, and instead was buried as one of many items contained in a 48-page budget trailer bill.
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