Californians Pay About $11 More Per Tank of Gas Than Rest of U.S.

By Ed Joyce / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published May 3, 2007 at 11:47 AM PDT

This story was published more than 16 years ago.

A consumers group says Californians pay a penalty at the gas pump. KPBS reporter Ed Joyce explains.

A consumers group says Californians pay a penalty at the gas pump. KPBS reporter Ed Joyce explains.

The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights says there's a big gap between crude oil prices and gasoline prices. And a much wider oil-to-gasoline gap in California than the rest of the nation. Foundation research director Judy Dugan.

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Dugan : There was some widening last year as hit last year's record prices. And now this year as we hit new record prices, we're finding that we're getting these enormous run-ups in price even though the price of crude oil is lower than it was last year.

She says we're paying from $7 to $15 more per fill-up than the rest of the country. Dugan says oil companies need to increase gasoline supplies to the West Coast. She says a refinery fire or other disruption could push California gas prices to one dollar above the national average. The report, called “A Mountain of Difference,” was prepared by oil analyst Tim Hamilton.

Ed Joyce, KPBS News.

Ed Joyce

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Ed Joyce was the environment reporter and afternoon news anchor for KPBS-FM. Before joining KPBS, he worked as an editor/columnist with Copley News Service in San Diego. Ed has an extensive background in newspaper, radio, web and TV journalism. After graduating with a B.A. in Communications from the University of Washington in Seattle, Ed began a career in broadcast journalism. His work has included stints in public broadcasting, commercial broadcasting and education -- working as an affiliate professor of communication and reporter at the University of Idaho and Washington State University in Pullman, Wash. During the past 20 years he has worked in radio, TV and print as a news reporter, anchor, writer, editor and producer. Along the way he has won numerous awards for general news reporting, newswriting, feature and issue reporting and breaking news reporting from The Associated Press, The Society of Professional Journalists, San Diego Press Club and other organizations. During the mid-1990s, while working for Oregon Public Broadcasting, he was a frequent contributor to National Public Radio, including a feature report on the memorial service for 14 U.S. Forest Service "hotshots" who died fighting a wildfire in Colorado (the crew was based in a central Oregon town). He’s also filed reports with Marketplace, KQED’s California Report and Climate Watch and with national and regional networks throughout the United States. At KPBS, Ed continues his contributions to National Public Radio and other national and regional news organizations. He has won awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and San Diego Press Club for his environmental reporting at KPBS-FM-TV and for producing and anchoring radio newscasts. In 2007 he was selected a National Press Foundation fellow for Understanding Violent Weather II program. The seminars were held at the National Weather Center in Norman, Okla. In 2008 he spoke at a UC San Diego conference on U.S. National Security as part of the school’s Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation. Ed led a discussion with the 18 foreign government officials and academics about the political debate over climate change. In 2010, Ed was elected to a three-year term on the board of the San Diego Press Club.

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