SACRAMENTO, California — Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom is proposing legislation to impose new storage and supply requirements on oil refiners in an effort to prevent gasoline price spikes, his office announced Thursday.
The proposal — yet to be finalized or introduced in the Legislature — would require refiners to tell state regulators in advance how they plan to make up for lost production during outages associated with maintenance at refineries. It would also authorize the state to require refiners to store more product and would penalize them if they don’t.
“Refiners should be required to plan ahead and backfill supplies to keep prices stable, instead of playing games to earn even more profits,” Newsom said in Thursday’s announcement.
The action is part of Newsom’s effort to stabilize gas prices as he and the Legislature steer California away from fossil fuels and toward electricity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
