Standing in front of a gas pump in a video posted to social media, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan said the costs are "becoming an emergency for working families, and I think we ought to act like it." The moderate Democrat called on state lawmakers to suspend California's gas tax, which at 61 cents per gallon is the highest in the nation.
The average price of a regular gallon of gas hit $5.07 statewide - 17 cents more than Friday and 43 cents more than the week before, according to American Automobile Association. Prices in the Golden State remain well above the US average of $3.41 a gallon, marking a 9-cent jump nationally from Friday to Saturday.
De Haan described the recent trend as a "slow and steady decline." Though fuel prices are on average three cents higher per gallon than this time last year, he said, there is a significant amount of gasoline being imported to the West Coast, which is expected to push prices down. One of the main reasons the prices are also going down is because of refinery issues finally subsiding and demand for fuel is typically down in the winter months.
Seventeen percent of California's refinery capacity is scheduled to close by mid-2026. Last week's explosion in El Segundo just knocked out our largest refinery. The state's attempt to nudge people into electric vehicles has stalled. Thanks to the California Air Resources Board, California can't import gasoline from other states. With all this, I'll bet that $7 a gallon gas is in our future.
The potential for the price hike comes because there's less gasoline supply for California drivers while the El Segundo refinery is offline. A similar instance happened earlier this year, when a chaotic explosion and fire at the Martinez Refining Company sent the refinery offline and caused major supply issues. "That means that the burden is then spread out amongst fewer refineries to provide fuel for the general population on so many levels," McClain said.
