Despite escalating gas prices this summer, California is raising gas taxes by another 2 cents a gallon July 1, reaching nearly 60 cents per gallon, the state announced April 30.
State drivers were paying the highest price at the pump as the average reached $5.39 per gallon, according to the American Automobile Association. The national average was nearly $3.66.
The California Energy Commission is closely tracking gas prices and looking at the influence of several factors, including supply, demand, and refinery maintenance, Sandy Louey, spokeswoman for the commission, told The Epoch Times in March.
The governor’s new Division of Petroleum Market Oversight, an independent division within the energy commission, is responsible for investigating and providing oversight to the state’s petroleum industry.
The new agency was created last year after Gov. Gavin Newsom vowed to punish “Big Oil” for making record profits while the state’s high gas prices hit records in October 2022. It has yet to find or report any potential violations of the law by the petroleum industry.
For diesel, the state tax will rise from 44.1 cents a gallon to 45.4 cents, officials said.
