SO WHEN CALIFORNIA HAS TO HAVE ITS OWN SPECIFIC BLEND OF GASOLINE FROM THE REST OF THE US COUNTRY THE DEMOCRATS COMPLAIN WHY THE PRICE OF GASOLINE IS EXPENSIVE IN THEIR ZERO ENERGY PRODUCING STATE–CONSIDER THAT NATURAL EARTH MADE ENERGY EXPLORATION HAS BEEN ALMOST BANNED AND THE FREE AND CLEAN FISSION ENERGY INSPIRED BY THE SUN IS NOW ALL BUT BEING CLOSED DOWN AND THE NANNY STATE CAN NOW BE STATED OF CA AS CA IMPORTS ALMOST ALL OF ITS ENERGY FROM NEIGHBORING STATES THUS ITS PRICE OF ENERGY SKY ROCKETS–AND ALL THE DEMOCRATS CAN DO IS COMPLAIN INSTEAD OF BEING VISIONARY ABOUT CHOOSING CHEAP ENERGY FOR ITS CITIZEN BUT THEN THIS IS THE LEFTIST LIBERAL MODEL TO CONTROL WITH EXCESSIVE ENERGY COST AND LACK THERE OF SO THEY CAN CLAIM THE END OF THE WORLD AND THE SKY IS FALLING IS NEAR MENTALITY

State senators investigating a recent surge in California pump prices at a Tuesday hearing grappled with price-fixing accusations and pressure to shift to alternative fuels.

Members of the transportation, housing and energy, utilities and communications committees questioned why retail gasoline prices rocketed past the rest of the country last month and are only gradually floating back down.

Sen. Ben Hueso (D-San Diego) chaired the hearing and returned several times to one suspicion: that the tiny pool of refiners responsible for producing California’s unique fuel blends may be colluding to keep prices artificially high.

“Do we have monopolies on fuel in California?” he asked. “We want to know if we don’t have a competitive-enough market to keep prices low.”

Gas prices soared about $1 a gallon last month in California, making the fuel more expensive than anywhere else in the country. Prices have fallen this month, but at an average of $3.25 a gallon Tuesday, gasoline in the state still costs 82 cents a gallon more than elsewhere in the U.S.

There are no pipelines connecting California to its neighbors; imports come slowly by ship or truck, panelists said. And state regulations require specific, clean-burning fuel blends.

That unique recipe – not recent adjustments to California’s cap-and-trade regulations – is the “fundamental problem” causing the price increase, said Jay McKeeman, vice president of the California Independent Oil Marketers Assn.

“Independent refiners can’t afford to make it, and it further isolates us from outside fuel producers,” he said.

Prices surged in the aftermath of a Feb. 18 explosion at the Exxon Mobil Corp. refinery in Torrance. Tesoro Corp. idled processing at its Martinez, Calif., plant earlier that month in response to a strike.

Tesoro spokeswoman Tina Barbee said Tuesday that the facility will not restart until the local United Steelworkers union ratifies a new labor agreement. The vote is scheduled for this week.

Refineries are generally under contract for 80% to 90% of the fuel they produce, said Gordon Schremp, senior fuels specialist for the California Energy Commission. To meet their obligations after a supply disruption, they tend to draw from their stockpiles, buy from traders and other refineries or turn to imports, all of which drives prices up.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-california-gas-prices-hearing-20150324-story.html