Energy commission and new DPMO seek staff and data access to implement SBX1‑2, DPMO says 2022 price spikes consistent with opportunistic margins

Alicia Gutierrez, a CEC director, described implementation activity under SBX1‑2 and ABX2‑1 and asked the subcommittee to support budget change proposals to expand the Energy Commission’s petroleum market oversight and data capabilities. She said new statutory duties include minimum inventory requirements, resupply planning analysis and expanded transportation‑fuel assessments and staff cannot absorb the workload without new positions.

Varsha Sarveshore, deputy director for policy in the Energy Commission’s Division of Petroleum Market Oversight, asked to convert a limited‑term data‑science position into a permanent role to sustain market‑monitoring and investigative analysis. "These additional resources, while modest, are essential for us to fulfill our independent responsibilities under statute," she told the committee.

Lawmakers asked about investigations into 2022 gasoline price spikes. Sarveshore said DPMO’s public statements to date indicate the price spikes are consistent with a generalized opportunistic raising of margins (what the staff described as one form of price gouging), but she declined to provide confidential investigative details. "Our market oversight and investigations work is ongoing, but the details of that are generally confidential as a law enforcement matter," she said.

The CEC said it expects to release a draft Transportation Fuels Transition Plan in the spring and that the full plan (including community and labor impacts and strategies for supply stability) is under internal review at CARB. Committee members pressed for the draft to be shared with legislators soon, and CEC staff agreed to circulate the most recent reports to committee consultants.

Why it matters: The DPMO is a new oversight entity created to increase transparency of California’s petroleum markets and to help the state mitigate gasoline price spikes. Funding decisions will determine whether DPMO has the staffing and tools required to perform ongoing market analysis and investigations.