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Probably mostly supply and demand. People in CA might have more disposable income than those in Wisconsin. Texas isn't under $1 despite having low taxes and lot

Probably mostly supply and demand. People in CA might have more disposable income than those in Wisconsin. Texas isn't under $1 despite having low taxes and lots of nearby oil drilling.

azinman2 7y ago
So you’re saying supply is restricted in CA? How can that be? We have now shortages of gas stations, and no shortages of gas. In fact we have many refineries here.
- Domenic_S 7y ago
  Tax is closer to $1 [0]. Gas stations are supply restricted in the sense that their storage tanks are finite in size although it seems to me most of the price is because they can. [0] https://www.ocregister.com/2019/04/16/californias-gas-taxes-total-nearly-1-per-gallon-and-include-a-28-cent-mystery-surcharge/ https://www.ocregister.com/2019/04/16/californias-gas-taxes-...
  - azinman2 7y ago
    The federal taxes are true for everyone. So you can subtract that from your difference across the US. But there’s no lack of competition, and plenty of apps like gas buddy that aid in that. That should put pressure to reduce prices, yet neighboring states can be so much lower. Something else is going on.
masonic 7y ago
No, CA gas is always $1 more because Californians will pay it. It's not a true free market that responds to supply and demand. Even when it's refined locally and should benefit from savings in transportation cost, it's always more. The CA market is broken out by CA-EPA requiring CA-specific formulations for inauthentic "environmental" reasons. For example, CA "winter" gas adds oxygenates to "reduce CO and soot" by 10%. However, the resulting fuel has 10% less energy, so you have to burn about 110% of it to go the same distance. One of the early oxygenates was MTBE[0]. Genius move, that. Save the environment by poisoning groundwater! [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTBE_controversy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTBE_controversy

Probably mostly supply and demand. People in CA might have more disposable income than those in Wisconsin. Texas isn't under $1 despite having low taxes and lots of nearby oil drilling.

azinman2 7y ago

So you’re saying supply is restricted in CA? How can that be? We have now shortages of gas stations, and no shortages of gas. In fact we have many refineries here.

Domenic_S 7y ago
Tax is closer to $1 [0]. Gas stations are supply restricted in the sense that their storage tanks are finite in size although it seems to me most of the price is because they can. [0] https://www.ocregister.com/2019/04/16/californias-gas-taxes-total-nearly-1-per-gallon-and-include-a-28-cent-mystery-surcharge/ https://www.ocregister.com/2019/04/16/californias-gas-taxes-...
- azinman2 7y ago
  The federal taxes are true for everyone. So you can subtract that from your difference across the US. But there’s no lack of competition, and plenty of apps like gas buddy that aid in that. That should put pressure to reduce prices, yet neighboring states can be so much lower. Something else is going on.

masonic 7y ago

No, CA gas is always $1 more because Californians will pay it. It's not a true free market that responds to supply and demand. Even when it's refined locally and should benefit from savings in transportation cost, it's always more. The CA market is broken out by CA-EPA requiring CA-specific formulations for inauthentic "environmental" reasons. For example, CA "winter" gas adds oxygenates to "reduce CO and soot" by 10%. However, the resulting fuel has 10% less energy, so you have to burn about 110% of it to go the same distance. One of the early oxygenates was MTBE[0]. Genius move, that. Save the environment by poisoning groundwater! [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTBE_controversy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTBE_controversy