FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 29, 2022

CONTACT: Brooke Armour
(916) 553-4093

SACRAMENTO— Rob Lapsley, president of the California Business Roundtable, issued the following statement today regarding the California Energy Commission's hearing, "California Gasoline Price Spikes, Refinery Operations, and Transitioning to a Clean Transportation Fuels Future:"

“Today’s Energy Commission hearing today made clear that the combination of California energy policies are resulting in higher gas prices for all working families. Since 2010, the data is clear. The price of energy, especially fuel prices, has steadily increased as California has implemented new regulations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while also curtailing statewide exploration and supply. When you add record inflation, threats of a recession, and the ongoing cost-of-living crisis affecting all families and businesses, now is not the time to make the gas price crisis work by imposing taxes, penalties or other costs increases that will drive up the price of gas even higher, which will be paid for by those who can least afford it. The administration and Legislature need to move on from trying to mislead the public on the cost increases of their energy policies and shift its focus to implementing reliable, affordable, and equitable energy policies that achieve the goals in the most affordable way for all Californians.

“Today's testimony also made it clear that price spikes are the inevitable result of state regulations and policies that have hurt the economic viability of producing fuels in this state. The testimony indicated California has already lost 9.8 percent of its refining capacity since 2019, and another refinery is expected to close soon. We cannot impose policies to phase out fossil fuels and not expect prices to be affected. Rather than policies to increase energy supplies and consequently bring stability to energy prices, the state continues to pursue policies such as a proposed tax that will reduce these needed investments even further.”