California consumer attorneys have filed a class-action lawsuit against five major oil companies, claiming that they illegally hiked gas prices ahead of new fuel regulations taking effect.
What happened: Consumer Watchdog and two private law firms filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California last month, arguing that drivers overpaid for gasoline after fuel suppliers preemptively raised prices before updates to the state’s low-carbon fuel standard kicked in on July 1.
The move comes after the California Air Resources Board released data in July — first reported by POLITICO — that showed state gas prices had jumped roughly 5-8 cents per gallon starting in January, as companies began incorporating rules designed to reduce the carbon intensity of transportation fuels into their pricing ahead of time. That resulted in consumers paying over $300 million in unnecessary charges, according to CARB’s calculations.
The lawsuit calls for the companies — Chevron, Valero, PBF Energy, Marathon Petroleum and Phillips 66 — to pay roughly $350 million in restitution and seeks an independent audit of their past LCFS cost reporting.
