As gas prices creep up again, Newsom appoints new oil czar to watch for price gouging
California has appointed its first watchdog for gas price gouging.
Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed Tai Milder on Wednesday to lead the state’s effort to hold gas companies accountable amid spiking fuel prices. Pending Senate confirmation, Milder will direct the newly-created independent Division of Petroleum Market Oversight, housed within the California Energy Commission.
Milder is a former antitrust prosecutor at the U.S. Department of Justice.
The division was created as part of Newsom’s plan to penalize Big Oil for California’s high gas prices. As part of a special legislative session, lawmakers pushed through Senate Bill X1-2 this year following months of high gas prices in the summer and fall of 2022. The bill empowered the California Energy Commission to penalize oil companies for making too much money.
The 2023-24 budget allocated close to $200,000 for Milder’s director salary. In May, the energy commission asked Newsom for $321,000 annually to fund the role, according to a budget change proposal. As for staffing the rest of the oversight division, the department plans to redirect 10 positions internally and asked for about $2.05 million to fund those jobs.
Nearly a year ago, Newsom convened the special session with a vision to establish a profit tax on oil companies, returning proceeds to California residents. Instead, the Legislature landed on the creation of the new regulatory agency, which will set the acceptable profit margin and decide how to penalize companies that exceed it. In the year since, the state has yet to punish any oil company.
An average price for a gallon of regular gas in California peaked last June at $6.44, the same year that oil profits made record-breaking profits. It dipped back below $5 in December, but it’s starting to creep back up: As of Aug. 2, the average price for a gallon of regular gas was $5.03 in the state, according to AAA.
