California gas prices while significantly higher than the national average, are expected to rise even higher for a multitude of reasons. California currently holds an average of $5.40 per gallon while the national average holds at about $3.66 per gallon. California still has plans to raise the cost of gas.
One of the factors involved in this increase is the fact that California uses a unique blend of gasoline, this is a blend designed to lower emissions but costs significantly more. This is mainly because there is a significantly lower amount of refineries producing fuel for California as there are only a few that produce this blend, as opposed to the wide network of refineries that produce fuel for the rest of the nation.
Another large factor that impacts fuel prices is California’s Cap and Trade program. This program is quite similar to the concept of carbon credits, it is a company’s permission to proceed with processes that release emissions into the atmosphere as long as they purchase carbon credits. In California, there is a rate for dollars to metric tons of carbon released. The current rate stands at $15 per metric ton of carbon. This rate adds about $0.13 to the price of gasoline and $0.14 to the price of diesel.
“California gas prices are the highest in the country and haven’t shown any sign of stopping,” Junior William Schoch said.
The rate that California has set in place is expected to increase as the years go by, as the thresholds get more and more rigorous. As of 2020, the state set the goal of limiting emissions back to the level observed in 1990. By 2030, the state would like to reduce emissions by an additional 40%, and by 2045 the state wants to push this number to 85%. As these thresholds get more rigorous, the rate for dollars to metric tons of carbon released will continue to increase, raising fuel prices significantly.
Aside from laws set in place in California, an increase in fuel prices is expected due to the state switching to the summer blend of fuel. The summer blend of fuel that the state uses is more expensive to produce from refineries compared to the usual winter blend, so it is expected to see prices rise around mid-May. A price increase of about 20 to 25 cents per gallon is expected.
This process follows a timeline and will continue to increase the price of gasoline at a certain rate due to the Cap and Trade program. Along with this is California SB1. California SB1 stands for Senate Bill 1, this bill states that California fuel tax is increased at a rate proportional to the Consumer Price Index.
This bill was passed in 2017 and has increased fuel prices by 21 cents per gallon since then, an average increase of about 3 cents a year. In 2024, the gas price increase was by 2 cents. With this bill, California holds the spot for the highest total state taxes and fuel charges the highest in the country.
“It is a pain to constantly have to spend so much money for gas when I would like to be saving it for my future,” Junior Jonathan Copeland said.
