Commentary by Christopher South

Look at what households here actually pay.

In June 2026, the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.A, put California residential electricity at 34.74 cents a kilowatt-hour. The U.S. total was 18.34 cents. For all sectors, California ran 28.50 cents against 14.48 cents nationwide.

At the pump it is the same story. The EIA Gasoline and Diesel Fuel Update for the week of Sept. 14, 2026, listed California regular at $5.827 a gallon. The U.S. average was $4.319.

Those are not campaign numbers. They are published federal tables. Hemet and San Jacinto see them on the bill and at the station.

Sacramento has an answer ready. Officials say Washington starved transmission and left the West with a brittle grid. They say oil companies set pump prices, not Cap-and-Trade. They say climate rules are insurance, and that other states free-ride on what California already paid for. The federal gasoline tax is real. A western energy market is real. Fine. If the whole premium were federal, the state’s own paper would say so.

It does not.

The California Energy Commission’s January 2026 gasoline cost stack lists the Low Carbon Fuel Standard at about 17 cents a gallon. Cap-and-Trade is about 25 cents. The state excise tax is 61.2 cents. The federal excise tax is 18.4 cents. Three of those four lines belong to Sacramento.

California also requires CARBOB, a gasoline blend most states do not use. The California Department of Tax and Fee Administration and the Energy Commission count the refineries that make it: 25 in 1996, 15 in 2020, 10 in 2022. Fewer plants. A special recipe. A higher pump price.

The power bill follows the same statutes. Senate Bill 100 requires 60 percent renewable electricity by 2030 and a carbon-free supply by 2045, with interim marks of 44 percent by 2024 and 52 percent by 2027. Advanced Clean Cars II requires 35 percent of new vehicles to be zero-emission in 2026, 68 percent in 2030, and 100 percent of model year 2035. Ratepayers and drivers fund that buildout.

Diablo Canyon charged them twice. Senate Bill 846 reversed a retirement already in motion. The Energy Commission’s February 2023 report and Public Utilities Commission Decision 23-12-036 keep the plant running through October 2029 and 2030. Ratepayers funded the close. Ratepayers now fund the stay. Retire, then extend.

Cap-and-Invest draws from the same people. The Legislative Analyst’s Office, on Feb. 10, 2026, projected $3.77 billion in auction proceeds for 2026-27. Senate Bill 840 moves $1 billion from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund to high-speed rail as a Tier 2 use. Tier 3 climate programs are projected at about 70 percent of their statutory amounts. General Fund deficits sit at $20 billion to $35 billion. Auction dollars also backfill CalFire, among other uses. Money sent to rail is money not filling those Tier 3 shortfalls, and not easing the deficit.

That is one bucket. The electric premium, the gasoline adders, the climate auctions, and the General Fund all come from ratepayers, drivers, and workers who earn and pay. There is not a second pile of money in Sacramento. The Capitol overspends on social programs, mismanagement, and waste. Those same households still pay the energy premium while that pattern continues.

Medi-Cal is the documented social-program pressure. The Legislative Analyst’s Office, in its March 2, 2026, Medi-Cal analysis, reported that spending has more than doubled over the last decade on both a General Fund and a total-funds basis. For 2026-27, Medi-Cal is estimated at about $49 billion General Fund and $222 billion total funds. That is about 20 percent of overall state General Fund spending. The Analyst’s Office says costs for undocumented and other expansion populations have pressured the budget, and that the Legislature enacted solutions amid the deficits. Waste and fraud are how big programs bleed. The growth is already in the tables.

Then Sacramento scapegoats the producers. Officials point at oil companies, utilities, and anyone still making fuel or power under California rules. Fair rules for producers are not a gift. They are how a state keeps supply. Scapegoating those producers does not cut 34.74 cents down to 18.34. It does not bring $5.827 in line with $4.319. Productive people in Hemet and San Jacinto pay the statutes either way.

The Legislature and the Public Utilities Commission should publish a two-page ledger that subtracts federal taxes and federal rules from the EIA and Energy Commission totals and lists the state share of the electric and gasoline premiums in cents. Freeze any new Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund transfer to high-speed rail until that ledger is public and the Legislative Analyst’s Office certifies that Tier 3 climate programs are funded at their statutory amounts. The same productive people funding the energy premium should not also fund rail as Tier 2 while Tier 3 and the General Fund are short. Name the cents. Name the statutes. Defend them in the open.

Christopher South

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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden said Tuesday his administration will suspend a federal rule that bars higher levels of ethanol in gasoline during the summer. The move, which Biden announced during a visit to Iowa, is intended to tamp down prices at the pump that have spiked during Russia’s war with Ukraine. Iowa is a key producer of the corn-based fuel additive.

A look at how that the decision to authorize year-round use of so-called E15 will impact gas supplies, prices and the environment.

WHAT ACTION IS BIDEN TAKING?

Most gasoline sold in the U.S. is blended with 10% ethanol. At Biden’s direction, the Environmental Protection Agency will issue an emergency waiver to allow widespread sale of 15% ethanol blend that is usually prohibited between June 1 and Sept. 15 because of concerns that it adds to smog in high temperatures.

Senior Biden administration officials said the move will save drivers an average of 10 cents per gallon at 2,300 gas stations that sell E15, as the high-blend ethanol is known. Those stations are mostly in the Midwest and the South, including Texas, according to industry groups.

WHY IS BIDEN DOING THIS?

Lawmakers from both parties and ethanol advocates have urged Biden and the EPA to allow year-round sales of E15, calling it a cheaper and readily available domestic alternative to traditional gasoline. The U.S. has banned imports of Russian crude oil since the country’s late February invasion of Ukraine, disrupting global markets and raising prices.

“Homegrown Iowa biofuels provide a quick and clean solution for lowering prices at the pump, and bolstering production would help us become energy independent once again,″ said Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, a longtime ethanol proponent. Grassley and 15 other senators sent Biden a letter last month urging him to allow year-round E15 sales.

Ethanol groups called Biden’s action a major win for American drivers and U.S. energy security. “It means cleaner options at the pump and a stronger rural economy,” said Emily Skor, CEO of Growth Energy, a biofuel trade group.

HOW WILL THIS AFFECT THE ENVIRONMENT?

Biden administration official say the short-term move will have little effect on the environment and that EPA will work with states to “ensure there are no significant air quality impacts through the summer driving season.″

Environmentalists questioned that, saying ethanol production contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and soil erosion and raises prices for corn and other crops.

“The ethanol lobby will be happy and kids with asthma will be sicker,″ said Dan Becker of the Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental group. “However well-meaning (Biden’s action) might be, kids and the elderly shouldn’t pay the price with their health for slight gas savings.″

A recent report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of the Sciences revealed that the federal ethanol mandate inflated corn prices by 30% from 2008 to 2016, made corn-based ethanol more carbon intensive than gasoline and increased annual fertilizer use by up to 8%, polluting waterways.

HAS EPA DONE THIS BEFORE?

The EPA has lifted seasonal restrictions on E15 in the past, including after Hurricane Harvey in 2017. The Trump administration allowed for year-round E15 sales starting in 2019, but a federal appeals court struck down the policy change in July 2021, saying the EPA overstepped its authority.

The decision dealt a significant blow to the ethanol industry and corn farmers who had anticipated increased ethanol demand through year-round sales of the higher blend.

HOW IS THIS DIFFERENT FROM TRUMP’S ACTION?

Senior Biden administration officials said they expected the EPA waiver to survive a likely court challenge, saying that unlike the open-ended Trump rule, the action is limited to this summer and is prompted by a supply disruption caused by the war in Europe.

Greater use of E15 should “help alleviate some of the pain that we’ve seen since Russia launched this war against Ukraine,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan told a Senate committee last week.

But critics said the only emergency is Biden’s dropping poll numbers.

Emergency fuel waivers are reserved for acute supply disruptions, such as those resulting from a hurricane, said Chet Thompson, president & CEO of the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers, which represents petroleum refiners.

“An additional three months of E15 sales won’t do anything to address high crude oil prices, and 98% of retail (gas) stations can’t even sell the fuel,″ Thompson said. “This is politics, not a real solution for drivers.”

WILL E15 HURT MY CAR’S ENGINE?

E15, often sold at the pump as Unleaded 88, for its octane rating, can safely be used in all cars, trucks and SUVs from 2001 on. Those model years represent more than 90% of vehicles on U.S. roads. The ethanol industry says the fuel is one of the most tested in history and has no effect on vehicle drivability. More than 20 billion miles have been driven in cars and trucks using Unleaded 88, a number continues to grow.

WHAT IS THE PRICE OF E15 GAS?

E15, or Unleaded 88, typically sells for 10 cents a gallon less than E10, the standard formulation for U.S. cars. The price difference between Unleaded 88 and conventional gasoline without ethanol is around 40 cents.

WILL I GET BETTER MILEAGE WITH E15?

There is no noticeable difference between the mileage achieved when using E15 and mileage when operating on E10.

CAN I USE E15 IN MY LAWNMOWER OR OTHER SMALL-ENGINE EQUIPMENT?

E15 has not been approved by EPA for use in non-automotive engines such as boats, motorcycles, lawn mowers and other small engines. E10, the standard ethanol formulation, is approved for small engines.

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DETROIT (AP) — New vehicles sold in the U.S. will have to average at least 40 miles per gallon of gasoline in 2026, up from about 28 mpg, under new federal rules unveiled Friday that undo a rollback of standards enacted under President Donald Trump.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said its new fuel economy requirements are the strongest to date and the maximum the industry can achieve over the time period. They will reduce gasoline consumption by more than 220 billion gallons over the life of vehicles, compared with the Trump standards.

They’re expected to decrease carbon dioxide emissions — but not as much as some environmentalists want — and raise new vehicle prices in an industry already pressed by inflation and supply chain issues.

For the current model year, standards enacted under Trump require the fleet of new vehicles to get just under 28 miles per gallon in real-world driving. The new requirements increase gas mileage by 8% per year for model years 2024 and 2025 and 10% in the 2026 model year.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, whose department includes NHTSA, said the rules also will help strengthen national security by making the country less dependent on foreign oil and less vulnerable to volatile gasoline prices. Gasoline nationwide has spiked to an average of more than $4.22 per gallon, with much of the increase coming since Russia, a major oil producer, invaded Ukraine in late February. It cost $2.88 per gallon just a year ago, according to AAA.

Gas prices also have helped to fuel inflation to a 40-year high, eating up household budgets and hitting President Joe Biden’s approval ratings.

“Transportation is the second-largest cost for American families, only behind housing,” Buttigieg said. The new standards, he said, will help keep the U.S. more secure and preserve “the freedom of our country to chart its future without being subject to other countries and to the decisions that are being made in the boardrooms of energy companies.”

But auto dealers say more stringent requirements drive up prices and push people out of an already expensive new-car market. NHTSA projects that the new rules will raise the price of a new vehicle in the 2029 model year by $1,087.

Trump’s administration rolled back fuel economy standards, allowing them to rise 1.5% per year, which environmental groups said was inadequate to limit planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions that fuel climate change. The standards had been rising about 5% per year previously.

But the new standards won’t immediately match those adopted through 2025 under President Barack Obama. NHTSA officials said they will equal the Obama standards by 2025 and slightly exceed them for the 2026 model year.

The Obama-era standards automatically adjusted for changes in the type of vehicles people are buying. When they were enacted in 2012, 51% of new vehicle sales were cars and 49% SUVs and trucks. Last year, 77% of new vehicle sales were SUVs and trucks, which generally are less efficient than cars.

Some environmental groups said the new requirements from NHTSA under Biden don’t go far enough to fight global warming. Others supported the new standards as a big step toward reducing emissions, with the American Lung Association calling for even stronger standards to drive a transition to all new vehicles having zero-emissions by 2035.

“Climate change has gotten much worse, but these rules only require automakers to reduce gas-guzzling slightly more than they agreed to cut nine years ago,” said Dan Becker, director of the Safe Climate Transport Center at the Center for Biological Diversity.

Officials said that under the new standards, owners would save about $1,400 in gasoline costs during the lifetime of a 2029 model year vehicle. Carbon dioxide emissions would drop by 2.5 billion metric tons by 2050 under the standards, the NHTSA said.

Automakers are investing billions of dollars to develop and build electric vehicles but say government support is needed to get people to buy them. The companies want government tax credits to reduce prices as well as more money for EV charging stations to ease anxiety over running out of juice.

John Bozzella, CEO of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a large industry trade group, said increased regulations will require supportive government policies. Regulators should consider safety, consumer buying preferences, improved fuel economy and the transition to electric vehicles, he said in a statement.

NHTSA sets fuel economy requirements, while the Environmental Protection Agency develops limits on greenhouse gas emissions. NHTSA officials said their requirements nearly match rules adopted in December by the EPA, so automakers don’t have to comply with two rules.

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This story has been corrected to show the current real-world mileage requirement under the Trump administration rules is 28 mpg, not 24 mpg.

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