Energy

Energy and utility watchdog coverage — gas prices, oil-industry profits, utility rates, and clean-energy accountability.

How Long Can California Go Without An Unplanned Refinery Outage? Enter the Contest

June 3, 2016 · Cody Rosenfield

Update: The clock last reset on October 910th after an unplanned shutdown at PBF's Torrance refinery. The refinery went offline after a 25 minute power outage in Torrance. When refineries go down, gasoline prices go up. That's why we started the clock on the next "unplanned" refinery outage: the Golden State Gouge-ometer. We started keeping time when Exxon's Torrance refinery, down for more than one year, came back online 24 days ago.

Watchdog Group Shows ‘Cozy’ Emails Between State Regulators and Utility Executives

May 27, 2016 · Mark Reback

The Santa Monica consumer group that prompted an investigation into contacts by the top aide for Gov. Jerry Brown with regulated utilities earlier this year has built a searchable public database of thousands of internal emails to and from her former employer, Pacific Gas & Electric, as well as others. The emails, released under the California Public Records Act and as part of the utility's response to the 2010 gas pipeline explosion in San Bruno, were posted by Consumer Watchdog on <a href="http://PUCPapers.org">PUCPapers.org</a>

Consumer Group Builds PUC Email Database

May 23, 2016 · Mark Reback

<div class="story-body"> The Santa Monica consumer group that prompted an investigation into Gov. Jerry Brown’s top aide’s contacts with regulated utilities earlier this year has built a searchable public database of thousands of internal emails to and from her former employer, Pacific Gas & Electric, and others.

Torrance Refinery Explosion Cost California Drivers $2.4 Billion In High Pump Prices, Study Says

May 5, 2016 · Mark Reback

<div> The February 2015 explosion that shuttered the ExxonMobil plant in Torrance was the costliest disruption at a California refinery in the past 16 years, with motorists paying at least $2.4 billion in higher pump prices in the following six months, <a href="http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_reports/RR1400/RR1421/RAND_RR1421.pdf">according to a recent RAND study</a>. Soaring prices stemming from the lost gasoline supply sucked a staggering $6.9 billion from the California economy in the first six months after the explosion alone.

No More Blackout Blackmail: Guest Commentary

April 29, 2016 · Mark Reback

Recently, city leaders, including Mayor Eric Garcetti, and Gov. Jerry Brown administration energy regulators warned of “blackouts” if Aliso Canyon’s natural gas storage remains shut. They pointed to a state report, raising the blackout threat, after which Southern California Gas Co. said it would have Aliso operating again by summer.

Gas Price Panel Ponders Refiner Market Power With Summer Prices Set To Sizzle

April 27, 2016 · Jamie Court

<div class="section field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> It's probably hard to feel the sting of state gasoline prices, that are 70 cents per gallon above US prices, when you are in an ivory tower. Perhaps that's why some of the academics on California Energy Commission's Petroleum Market Advisory Committee (PMAC) are taking a slow train to recommendations about how to fix the Golden State gouge that's been causing pain at the gas pump for the last year.

After a surfboarding accident, a doctor fails to run an X-ray leading to a man’s death by brain hemorrhage.

April 25, 2016 · Evan Thomas King

Tom Steyer Wants ‘Answers’ For California Gas Price Spike

April 22, 2016 · Mark Reback

<div id="content-body-16194260-16955615"> When California lawmakers met last week to begin asking questions about the recent rise in gasoline prices, Tom Steyer took notice. Steyer, the billionaire environmental activist and Democratic mega-donor, signed his name to a letter Monday sharing his appreciation for the Senate’s preliminary probe into why gas prices rose by more than $1 a gallon in early March.

State Senate To Hold Hearings On Phony Blackout Blackmail Report

April 20, 2016 · Jamie Court

<img class=" alignright size-full wp-image-2926" alt="" class="right" src="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/images_alisorollingblackouts.jpg" style="width: 120px; height: 120px; float: right; margin-left: 7px; margin-right: 7px;" width="120" height="120" />Sunlight is the best disinfectant, and that goes for blackout threats too.

Blackouts Could Dog LA This Summer, Agencies Warn

April 19, 2016 · Mark Reback

LOS ANGELES (CN) - Energy agencies told the LA City Council on Tuesday that customers face up to 14 days of blackouts this summer in the aftermath of this year's massive methane gas leak - an assertion a consumer group calls misleading. At a Tuesday morning council meeting, The California Independent System Operator director Tom Doughty and other energy officials outlined a plan to cope with potential blackouts in the wake of curtailed operations at the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage field.

Driverless and Clueless: Consumer Watchdog Battles Google’s Driverless Cars

April 14, 2016 · Mark Reback

Consumer Watchdog are fighting Google's self-driving car plans, because computers are fickle and humans are dumb

‘This is a threat. This is not a report.’ Critics Call Blackout Warnings A Scare Tactic To Keep Aliso Canyon Open

April 12, 2016 · Mark Reback

If energy agencies and utilities ever want to scare consumers, they need say little more than "blackouts."