California Governor Newsom's Plan to Regulate Oil Industry Profits and Prices
California Governor Gavin Newsom has abandoned his call for the state legislature to cap oil company profits and instead will ask lawmakers to increase transparency and oversight of the industry. The governor’s amended proposal would give the California Energy Commission more authority to investigate gasoline price spikes and the option, through a public hearing process, to place a cap on profits and penalize oil companies. The bill would create an independent watchdog authority within the commission with subpoena authority to monitor gas prices and investigate spikes.