Latest Energy Releases
Fifty-Five Organizations Call on Gov. Newsom to Veto Bill Weakening His Landmark Refinery Price Gouging Bill
Los Angeles, CA —Fifty-five organizations have sent a letter to Governor Newsom urging him to veto SB 842 (Bradford), legislation that would make it more cumbersome to assess and control price spikes consumers face at the pump during oil refinery maintenance...
Dirty Last Minute Deal To Weaken Gasoline Price Gouging Law Passes Under Radar; Gasoline Prices Up Steeply In California And State Has Failed To...
Sacramento, CA -- A bill amended 72 hours before the end of the legislative session and passed in the dead of night without debate would undermine California’s new gasoline price gouging law.
SB 842, authored by Steve Bradford, would...
The Good That Came Out Of Suing the State Over Allowing Illegal Disposal Of Radioactive Waste From CA’s Most Notorious Cold War Lab: An...
The Santa Susana Field Lab, nestled in the Simi Hills, is about an hour by car from downtown Los Angeles. It is the scene of experimental nuclear reactor testing and a partial nuclear meltdown in 1959, plutonium production, and...
Prominent Public Interest Groups Support Consumer Watchdog Petition To CA Supreme Court To Require State Agencies To Enforce Strict Rule On Radioactive Debris Disposal...
Supreme Court Action Needed To Protect Hundreds Of Thousands Of Californians From Harm
Los Angeles, CA—Public interest groups filed amicus letters with the California Supreme Court seeking review of a decision by the First District Court of Appeal that would...
California Oil Regulators Continue Issuing Permits In Q2 To Rework Leaky, Unproductive Wells; Should Order Plugging Instead, Advocates Say
Los Angeles, CA—The total number of oil drilling permits issued blew past 15,000 since Governor Newsom took office in 2019, while nearly all permits issued in the first six months of 2023 were to fix unproductive wells, not...
CA Anti-Gouging Law Has Led To Lower Gasoline Prices, Consumer Watchdog Finds
Los Angeles, CA—California gasoline prices have dropped significantly and stabilized relative to national gas prices in the wake of the Governor’s call, and enactment of, California’s anti-gouging law, according to an analysis by Consumer Watchdog.
“The gubernatorial and legislative...
Consumer Watchdog Asks CA Finance Dept. To Strike Continued Funding For Failed SF Mobile Recycling Pilot From Budget
Los Angeles, CA— Consumer Watchdog has called upon the Governor’s Department of Finance to strike a $500,000 allocation in the legislative-approved budget for the San Francisco “Bottle Bank” mobile recycling program. “After 15 months of operation, the project has...
SF BottleBank Pilot To Refund CRV Bottle Deposits A Bust; Coalition Gives CalRecyle Checklist for Reform
Los Angeles, CA—The San Francisco BottleBank bottle deposit return pilot featuring trucks rotating between supermarket parking lots has burned through over $3.6 million in state grants and services for trucks, labor, consultants, technology, and SF Conservation Corps staff...
Senator Portantino Stops Bill To Hold Oil Drillers Liable For Health Impacts On Community In Undemocratic Use of Unilateral Power To Hold Bills In...
SB 556 would have held oil companies presumptively liable for causing cancer, asthma, preterm and high risk births for people living within 3200 ft of an oil well.
Sacramento, CA — SB 556, legislation that gives people who live near...
Bill To Hold Oil Companies Liable for Harms in Safety Zones Passes First Hurdle in the California Senate
SB 556 — legislation that gives people who live near oil wells and have developed cancer, respiratory illnesses and birth defects the right to hold oil drillers liable for their illnesses — passed the California Senate Judiciary Committee in a 8 to 2 vote. SB 556 will now be referred to the Senate Appropriations Committee.
New Watchdog Report Lays Out Checklist For CalRecycle To Make Bottle Deposit Refunds Easy As Buying The Beverages
Los Angeles, CA— Consumer Watchdog released a report today outlining what CalRecycle, the state’s recycling regulator, should do beginning at its public workshop on April 25 to craft new regulations implementing bottle deposit return system reform SB 1013. This...
Bill to Hold Oil Drillers Presumptively Liable For Harms in Drilling Safety Zones Garners Support of 130+ Group Coalition
New legislation gives people who have developed cancer, respiratory illnesses and birth defects the right to hold oil drillers liable for their illnesses if they live, work, or go to school within 3200 feet of oil drilling and if the company did not use the best technologies to mitigate risk.
Public Interest Groups Take On Newsom Administration Over Backtracking On Cleanup Of Radioactivity At Santa Susana Site, Case To Be Heard On Monday
In an appeal before the Court of Appeal in Sacramento to be heard on Monday, the Newsom Administration will be challenged over positions that breach a longstanding agreement to require all radioactive waste from the Santa Susana Field Lab be disposed of at sites licensed and designed for such waste.
1st Q Oil Permits Within 3,200-Foot Setback Zone Total 62% Of All New Permits Approved In State Action Condemned By Advocates
The total number of oil drilling permits approved since Governor Gavin Newsom he took office reached nearly 15,000 in the first quarter of 2023, FracTracker Alliance and Consumer Watchdog said today.
Why CA’s Oil Refiner Accountability Law Is A Big Deal
For more than two decades, Californians have been plagued by chronic gasoline price spikes and a much greater gap with US gasoline prices than is justified by added taxes and environmental costs.
Price Gouging Penalty and Oil Refiner Accountability Bill To Become Law
Legislation backed by Governor Newsom to create a new state watchdog with power to prevent price gouging at the gas pump cleared the California Assembly by a vote of 52 to 19 and is now awaiting the Governor’s signature.
CA Senate Passes Gasoline Price Gouging Penalty And Oil Refinery Transparency Bill, Goes to Assembly
Sacramento, CA -- A landmark measure to rein in skyrocketing California gasoline prices has cleared the California Senate by a vote of 30 to 8. “This bill puts a watchdog over gasoline price gouging and gives it the teeth...
Price gouging Penalty Passes First Hurdle; Consumer Watchdog Testifies In Assembly About Need for Penalty and Transparency Reforms, $590 Million Oil Exec Stock Grab
SBx1 2, the newly amended proposal for a price gouging penalty and oil refiner transparency, passed its first test in the California Senate Utilities, Energy and Commerce Committee
Governor and Legislature Strike Deal on Price Gouging Penalty And Oil Refiner Transparency
Making California First State In America To Rein In Oil Refiner Greed and Profiteering
Los Angeles, CA – Governor Newsom and California legislature leaders have reached a deal to push through a new oil refiner accountability law including a price...
Executives And Insiders At CA Big 5 Refiners Cashed Out $590 Million In Company Stock During 2022 In Wartime Profiteering
Top executives and insiders at California’s big five oil refiners cashed out $590 million in stock in 2022, according to a review of filings with Securities Exchange Commission by the nonprofit Consumer Watchdog.
More Transparency For California Gas Markets
This morning the Los Angeles Times published my commentary on why we need more transparency in California’s gas markets. Let's hope the powers that be in Sacramento and Washington listen. The oped follows:
Who profits from Southern California’s high...
Misnomers In Legislative Debate Over Price Gouging Penalty
When the California Senate Energy Committee took on the price gouging penalty for the first time recently, economists with a track record working for the oil industry tried to muddy the waters on the real issues in the debate.
Did oil refiners make...
Consumer Watchdog Testifies For Windfall Profits Cap At CA Senate Energy Committee
Sacramento, CA – Consumer Watchdog President Jamie Court will offer testimony in favor of enacting a price gouging penalty and windfall profits cap on oil refiners at the California Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee today. His presentation, linked here, documents the...
Over 100 Groups Support California Legislation Curtailing Excessive Refinery Profits
Labor, Working Families Party, progressive and climate justice organizations unite on bill to penalize future gasoline price gouging
Sacramento, CA — Over 100 state, local, and national organizations sent a letter calling on the California Legislature to adopt Governor Gavin Newsom’s price...
PBF Energy, Last of California’s Big Five Refiners To Report 2022 Results, Finishes Parade Of Windfall Profits In California
Los Angeles, CA—PBF Energy today posted an annual profit of $2.9 billion. The five refiners controlling California’s gasoline market -- PBF Energy, Chevron, Marathon Petroleum, Valero, and Phillips 66 – have now reported a combined 2022 annual profit of $75.4...
Consumer Watchdog Provides Testimony Of Manipulation of Natural Gas Prices In Southern California To Public Utilities Commission
San Francisco, CA – Consumer Watchdog President Jamie Court offered the following testimony to the Public Utilities Commission on the spike in natural gas prices in Southern California:
Something is clearly wrong with the natural gas market in the...
Two California Refiners Reveal Windfall Profits For 2022, Continuing In Footsteps of Chevron
Los Angeles, CA—Marathon Petroleum made 75 cents in profit per gallon off West Coast drivers in 2022, virtually doubling what it made the year before, strengthening the case for the California legislature to enact a windfall profits penalty....
Chevron Reports $1.4 Billion In CA Windfall Refining Profits In 2022
Total Windfall Profits Rebate Climbs to $3.2 Billion As Fourth Quarter Reports Continue To Roll In
Los Angeles, CA—Chevron’s profits report to investors Friday revealed it made 85 cents per gallon profit in California in 2022, more than doubling...
Chevron Doubles 2022 Profits, Reveals Extensive Gas Price Gouging In The West
Los Angeles, CA—Chevron reported earnings for the year of $35.5 billion, more than doubling last year's $15.6 billion, with financial data revealing the company also doubled its per gallon profits off consumers on the West Coast, Consumer Watchdog said...
Valero 2022 Profits Skyrocket But Gas Pump Gouging In CA Moderates As CA Threatens Refiner Penalty
Los Angeles, CA—Valero raked in $11.5 billion in 2022 profits, beating its $930 million for the previous year by a dozen times. However, Governor Newsom’s call for a special session in October to deal with price gouging appears...
Energy Videos

KPIX-SF (CBS) - San Francisco, CA: California Gas Prices Are Soaring Again
00:32

KCAL-LA - Los Angeles, CA: Gas Prices Skyrocketing
02:52

KTLA-LA (CW) - Los Angeles, CA: So Cal Gas Prices Nearing $6 a Gallon
03:20

Spectrum News 1 (San Fernando Valley) - Los Angeles, CA: Controversy Over Gas Storage Facility
03:50

KFMB-SD (CBS) - San Diego, CA: Gas Tax Increase Takes Effect July 1st
03:23

CBS 8 - Los Angeles, CA: What You Need to Know About Gas Prices
02:02

KGO-SF (ABC) - San Francisco, CA: BottleBank Update, Is It Really Effective?
02:39

Senator Portantino, Shame on You
01:18

Senator Portantino: Protect Our Communities From Oil Drillers
00:51

KERO-BFL (ABC) - Bakersfield, CA; Oil Drilling Near Homes Can Cause Health and Safety Concerns
03:06

KNBC - LA, CA; Consumer Watchdog's Liza Tucker On New Concerns With Santa Susana Field Lab Clean Up
04:09

(ABC) - LA, CA; SoCal Edison's New Income Based Proposed Charges Might Not Be As Stable As They Seem
02:40

(CBS)-Fresno, CA; Victory For Californians As Bill Passes That Will Regulate Profits Of Oil Refiners
02:17

CNBC - Jamie Court Speaks About The Bill That Would Penalize Oil Refineries For Price Gouging
06:39

KXTV(ABC) - Sacramento, CA; Governor Newsom Announced A New Deal With Lawmakers To Take On Big Oil
02:56

KNBC-LA (NBC) - Los Angeles, CA; Holding Utility Companies Accountable For Power Outages
02:01

Consumer Watchdog at CA Senate Energy Cmte 2 22 23
50:54

KFMB CW - San Diego, CA; Oil Companies Need to be Held Accountable for High Gas Prices
02:42

KTTV (FOX) - Los Angeles, CA; Recap Of Jamie Court's Testimony At The Senate Hearing For Gas Prices
05:07

KGTV(ABC) - SD, CA; Jamie Court Will Testify at the Price Gouging Hearing for Rising Gas Prices
01:17

KTTV-LA (FOX) - Los Angeles, CA; SoCal Gas Bill Sticker Shock
04:24

Spectrum News 1 - Los Angeles, CA; Who Is SoCal Gas Buying Their Gas From?
09:18

Why SoCal Gas is at Fault For Doubling Your Natural Gas Bill
01:43

KNBC - Los Angeles, CA; Spike In Natural Gas Prices
02:32

KCBS - Los Angeles, CA; New Year, New Pain At The Pump
03:02

KCAL - Los Angeles, CA; Jamie Court Says We are Being Gouged By SoCal Gas
02:18

KTTV (FOX) - Los Angeles, CA; Jamie Court Weighs In On Astronomically High SoCal Gas Bills
04:29

KCAL- LA, CA; What's Behind The Gas Price Jump And Simple Changes That Could Save You Some Money
02:49

Spectrum News 1 - Los Angeles, CA; SoCal Gas Is Blaming Price Hikes On A Cold Snap
09:35

KCAL- Los Angeles, CA; SoCal Gas Price Hikes Has To Do With Mismanagement
01:10

Spectrum News 1 - Los Angeles, CA; Jamie Court Says There's More To The SoCal Price Hike
03:10

Consumer Watchdog President Jamie Court Testifies About Need for Windfall Profits Cap in California
05:36

Californians Need a Rebate From Gasoline Price Gouging
02:34

Senate Bill 1322 Takes On The Golden State Gouge
01:06

CBS Evening News: Jamie Court on Gas Prices Hitting 5 Year High
01:40

KNBC: Jamie Court Explains the Spike in Gas Prices
02:23

KTTV-GDLA: Jamie Court Explains California's High Gas Prices
04:34

SPECTRUM NEWS1: Challenges Redeeming Recyclables in California
02:56

SPECTRUM NEWS1: California Stores Preventing Bottle Deposit Redemption
08:55

KCAL: Santa Monica's Last Recycling Center is Closing
00:38

KABC: New Gas Tax to be Enacted on July 1st
02:22

KTVU Fox: Consumer Watchdog Urges Governor Newsom to Fire Oil Regulators With Conflicts of Interests
00:46

SPECTRUM NEWS 1: DOGGR Regulator Fired Over Conflicts of Interest and Increased Oil Drilling Permits
03:06

KABC: FBI Raids LADWP Office and City Attorney's Office Over Billing Scandal Cover-Up
02:07

KABC: The Largest Chain of Recycling Centers in CA is Closing Down
02:14

ABC KOFY: CA's Recycling Crisis Worsens After Largest Chain of Recycling Centers Close
02:08

ABC KXTV: rePlanet Closes Entire Chain Of Recycling Centers
00:38

KRON: rePlanet Recycling Centers Shut Down Statewide
02:03

KTTV: rePlanet CA's Largest Recycling Business Closes All Sites Statewide
00:40
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