Energy

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

Senator Joel Anderson Asks State Agency ‘To Rule Out Toxic Chemicals’ In Wildomar

February 27, 2013 · Mark Reback

Anderson also asks the DTSC for a written response detailing a plan, with timelines, to address the issues in Wildomar's Autumnwood development. <div class="main_text"> Updated at 12:20 p.m.: Senator Joel Anderson (R-San Diego) is calling for the Department of Toxic Substances Control to test soil in a Wildomar neighborhood following concerns over toxicity there.

Stop the Gas Price Gouging

February 27, 2013 · Jamie Court

<img class=" alignright size-full wp-image-2606" alt="" src="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/images_Gas-Cash.gif" style="width: 250px; height: 170px; float: right; margin-left: 4px; margin-right: 4px;" width="300" height="204" />If you think the price you are paying at the pump today is too high, what do you think will happen if there are even fewer oil companies providing your gasoline?

WILDOMAR: State Senator Seeks Clarity On Deaths

February 26, 2013 · Mark Reback

A state senator is demanding that state environmental officials take action to settle questions about whether chemical contamination can be blamed for the deaths of two Wildomar women and illnesses among others who lived in the same housing tract. “I ask that you take the necessary steps to rule out toxic chemicals as the cause of the illnesses and deaths,” Sen. Joel Anderson, R- Alpine, said in a Feb. 22 letter to Debbie Raphael, director the state’s Department of Toxic Substances Control.

Toxics Watchdog

February 26, 2013 · Liza Tucker

California has some of the toughest environmental laws in the nation, but some of the weakest enforcement. Toxic pollution emissions to soil and water rose...

Was Sen. Rubio Auditioning For Job at Chevron?

February 25, 2013 · Judy Dugan

<img class=" alignright size-full wp-image-2603" alt="" src="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/chevwrong.png" style="width: 300px; height: 340px; float: right; " width="397" height="450" />The power of the petroleum industry in California may be unparalleled in the states. Its lobbying machine is stupendously successful. For instance, California remains the only significant oil producer that <a href="http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/blog/gov-brown-why-no-oil-tax">does not tax </a>oil extracted in the state.

Senator Quits For Job With Chevron

February 23, 2013 · Mark Reback

State lawmaker Rubio had led a push for business-friendly environmental rules. SACRAMENTO, CA -- State Sen. Michael J. Rubio, who was leading the Legislature's effort to make California's environmental laws more business-friendly, abruptly resigned from office Friday to accept a government-affairs job with Chevron Corp.

If the President Wants Cleaner, Safer Gas and Oil, Give Consumers Knowledge and Power

February 13, 2013 · Judy Dugan

<img class=" alignright size-full wp-image-2595" alt="" src="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/fracking_holding_pond.png" style="width: 280px; height: 206px; margin: 10px; float: right; " width="358" height="264" />It was a relief to hear more than a passing reference to climate change in President Obama's State of the Union Speech, including promises of more support for wind and solar power. But the oil industry heard nothing to even cause even a smidgen of concern.

Fracking Regulations Only Exxon Could Love

January 29, 2013 · Judy Dugan

<img class=" alignright size-full wp-image-2261" alt="" height="219" src="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/images_fracking_waste_pit.png" style="float: right;" width="289" />California's oil and gas industry regulators are about to write final state regulations on the controversial practice of fracking natural gas and oil wells in the state. Don't expect any backbone, however, from the state Department of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Regulation.

Which Way To Ease Gas Price Spikes?

January 13, 2013 · Mark Reback

Require More Inventory At Oil Refineries, Watchdog Says

California Gas Prices: A Rigged Game Where Consumers Lose Big

December 13, 2012 · Liza Tucker

<img class=" alignright size-full wp-image-2550" alt="" src="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/images_gasprices_0.jpg" style="width: 250px; height: 245px; float: right;" width="512" height="501" />Who would want two companies, Tesoro and Chevron, to control more than half of California's gasoline market? Only people, like oil company executives, who think paying five dollars a gallon should be the new normal.

Energy Price Manipulation Found On Two Fronts

November 29, 2012 · Consumer Watchdog

Anyone who thought manipulation of California energy prices ended with the criminal penalties assessed against executives of companies like Enron and Williams Energy after the state's 2000-2001 electricity crunch turns out to have been hopelessly naive.

Senators Add Fire to Scandal Over Phony California Fuel Crisis

November 27, 2012 · Liza Tucker

<img class=" alignright size-full wp-image-2046" alt="" src="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/oilrefinery.png" style="width: 300px; height: 214px; float: right;" width="300" height="214" />Today, senators from California, Washington and Oregon joined our call to investigate refineries, asking the Department of Justice to comb through California refineries one by one to see whether market manipulation or false reporting by oil refineries had something to do with record $5 dollar a gallon prices at some California gas stations last month and near record prices earlier in the year.