The mystery lurking in California’s $8 gas prices
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The Golden State has a ‘mystery gas surcharge.’ Some say it’s price gouging.
Eight dollars for a gallon of gas. Once, it seemed like an impossibility; now, it seems to happen in California every time there is a price spike. Last week, a Chevron station in Los Angeles recorded prices of $8.35 and above; similar prices were reported at multiple stations around Southern California.
But some analysts say the most recent spike in California prices — the average price per gallon across the state as of Tuesday was $6.29 — is only part of a much longer, and potentially more destructive, trend. For the past seven years, California consumers have suffered through what one economist calls a “mystery gasoline surcharge.” That is, California gas prices are significantly higher than in the rest of the nation — and the price premium can’t be explained by state taxes and environmental regulations alone.
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