LOS ANGELES (CABC) — California drivers know that gas is much more expensive in the Golden State than anywhere else in the state, and they know that the cost of fuel rises with state taxes.
But it also adds an extra 30 cents to the price of a gallon of gas, and no one can explain why.
“This mysterious additional cost of gasoline will only go to suppliers,” said UC Berkeley professor Severin Bornstein. “We don’t pay what they pay, we don’t know who gets the money.”
Bornstein, director of the UC Berkeley Energy Institute, says 30 cents a gallon costs California drivers about $4 billion a year.
Related: How Long Will High Gas Prices Last? Experts say it can take months
He says surcharges were raised after a catastrophic fire in 2015 at the Torrance refinery.
“After the Torrance refinery fire in 2015, our prices went up significantly compared to the rest of the country and they haven’t come back to the same ratio,” Bornstein said.
Experts say higher prices in California are due to a combination of factors, including gas taxes and the cost of producing cleaner gasoline. The state is also a “fuel island,” meaning it does not receive supplies through interstate pipelines.
An effort to investigate the “additional cost of darkness” was started a few years ago, but that effort was abandoned due to lack of progress.
With gas prices continuing to rise, Bornstein says it’s time to solve the mystery.
“It costs Californians about $4 billion a year,” Bornstein said. “It seems like spending a few million dollars to find out would be a smart spend.”
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