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WALNUT CREEK, Calif. – Average gas prices in California are rising higher, just like a snow bank in a winter storm.
The Golden State’s average climbed twelve12 cents in just the past month, according to the latest report from AAA Northern California, which tracks gas prices as a service to consumers.
According to AAA’s latest report, all but six Northern California metro areas tracked by AAA saw a double digit increase at the pump over the past month.
California’s average gas price is the third highest among all 50 states.
The Golden State’s average for a gallon of regular, unleaded gasoline is $3.26, up 12 cents since last month’s report on Nov. 9.
For perspective, that’s 35 cents higher than California’s average price on this date last year, when it was $2.91.
Northern California gas prices are now averaging $3.28, up 11 cents from last month.
In the San Francisco Bay Area, motorists can expect to pay an average price of $3.35, which is a 12-cent increase. The national average price of $2.98 is up by 12 cents, which is 38 cents more than the national price on this date last year, when it was $2.60.
The price of crude is largely being driven by how investors look at oil as an investment. Given that oil is traded in dollars, the weaker the dollar is the more it is typically bought by investors worldwide.
Recently, the dollar has been generally weak. That has spurred some buying. An additional influence on prices has been how investors are interpreting economic data. The better the worldwide economy looks, the more attractive crude oil becomes as an investment.
A mixed bag of global and domestic news ultimately put slight downward pressure on crude oil prices, although those prices have generally been climbing. Investor’s recent concerns surround the shaky strength of the European economy. On the flip side, Japan had greater than expected third-quarter growth.
“As the past 25 years have shown us, crude oil and gasoline prices are tremendously tidal. Throughout 2010, those prices have ebbed and flowed with the financial tides, and that is certainly the case so far in December,” explained AAA Northern California spokesperson Matt Skryja. “Despite the recent uncertainty about the economic impact on the price of crude, demand in the United States has been only slightly higher this year, when compared to 2009.”
The least expensive average price in Northern California can be found in Chico where regular is $3.19.
Of all the metro areas in Northern California where gas prices are tracked by AAA, Eureka’s average price of $3.45 is the highest. It’s also the highest price reported by AAA in the lower 48 states.
The least expensive gasoline in the country is found in Cheyenne, Wyo., where the average price of gas is $2.58. Wailuku, Hawaii, holds the dubious crown for the highest average price in the nation, at $3.99 per gallon.
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The event will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday, Dec. 17, in the Lake County Board Chambers, 255 N. Forbes, Lakeport.
PG&E representatives will staff the event to help customers with their questions about PG&E’s SmartMeter program, billing and more. The answer centers also will feature a SmartMeter demonstration board.
PG&E is deploying SmartMeter gas and electric meters in Lake County.
The SmartMeter program provides customers with more information about their energy usage and more rate options to help them reduce their energy use and bills.
The company said SmartMeter technology also will help the state meet its renewable energy goals and provide the foundation for a future smart grid which will make the power grid more reliable, efficient and sustainable.
For more information about PG&E’s SmartMeter program, visit www.pge.com/smartmeter or call PG&E’s 24-hour SmartMeter Hotline at 1-866-743-0263.
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Receipts for the month were $1.3 billion, or 19.4 percent, above estimates found in the recently-enacted state budget. Some of that increase is likely accelerated revenues that otherwise would be received in December.
“Barring an unexpected drop in revenues or surge in State payments, we do not face an immediate cash crisis this fiscal year,” said Chiang. “But without an honest, on-time budget, we could see a multi-billion dollar cash problem in the summer of 2011.”
Controller Chiang spoke last week at Governor-elect Jerry Brown’s budget summit in Sacramento, updating legislators on the projected cash-flow for the current fiscal year.
At the summit, Chiang urged lawmakers to adopt concrete budget solutions before July, when the state could face another cash crisis.
Chiang also urged lawmakers to enact budget solutions that end the state’s overreliance on short-term cash-flow borrowing.
The state faced a $20.7 billion cash deficit on Nov. 30. That deficit was covered by $10.7 billion of internal borrowing – short term loans from special funds, and $10 billion of external borrowing.
In the month of November, corporate taxes were up $263.8 million (775.8 percent), personal income taxes came in $629.2 million above (22.6 percent) estimates, and sales and use tax revenues were $366.7 million above (11.4 percent) estimates.
Expenditures for the fiscal year through Nov. 30 were $260 million less than Budget Act estimates.
November 2010's financial statement and the summary analysis can be found on the controller's Web site at www.sco.ca.gov.
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The Regional Water Board voted unanimously today to approve a final EIR certification for a program of dairy manure digester and co-digesters in the Central Valley.
This is the culmination of an intense, 11-month interagency effort. It will enable state agencies to achieve Governor Schwarzenegger’s mandates to reduce permit processing times by at least 50 percent for projects in renewable energy.
“This achievement will be recognized as a major contribution by the Water Board towards achieving the state’s climate goals,” observed Central Valley Regional Water Board Chair Katherine Hart.
At Friday’s meeting, the Water Board adopted a general order for digester facilities located on dairies.
The board anticipates at least one or more general order to regulate the various types of manure and co-digestion facilities to protect water quality.
The adoption of the general orders will enable the Water Board to reduce the time required to permit dairy digester projects by at least 75 percent.
Dairy manure digester and co-digester projects can provide benefits to the state by generating usable methane (a byproduct of cow manure) and by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Dairy manure digesters capture methane gas that can then be used to generate electricity or used as a substitute for conventional natural gas. Methane is one of the greenhouse gases blamed for global warming. Co-digesters convert, in addition to manure, agricultural and food processing waste, green waste, and fats, oils and grease into energy.
State and local agencies that worked with the Central Valley Regional Water Board in developing the program EIR include: the State Water Resources Control Board; Air Resources Board; the Department of Food and Agriculture; the Energy Commission; the Public Utilities Commission; the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District; the California Environmental Protection Agency; and the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery.
“We fully support the effort to make it easier to permit digesters,” said Air Resources Board Deputy Executive Officer, Bob Fletcher. “This effort to streamline the process will help accelerate the number of digesters in California and address climate change by reducing the amount of methane, a potent greenhouse gas that enters the atmosphere.”
The EIR indicates that the program would result in a net maximum reduction of 1.6 million metric tons per year of Carbon Dioxide or CO2 equivalent emissions under the EIR’s build-out scenario, which assumes 200 dairy digesters, would be constructed over the next 10 years.
“This is an example of how agencies can work together to align the permitting process to help California agriculture diversify into the renewable energy sector while protecting our environment,” said California Secretary of Food and Agriculture, A.G. Kawamura. “Development of dairy digesters represents a potential revenue opportunity for dairy farm families during these tough economic times while at the same time assisting the state in reaching its ambitious renewable energy goals.”
Energy Commission Vice Chair James Boyd says that the “program EIR shows the benefits from California interagency efforts and how working together helps the state to meet the goals of Governor Schwarzenegger’s executive order which calls for 20 percent of renewable energy from biomass resources, and a minimum of 20 percent of its biofuels developed within California by 2010, 40 percent by 2020, and upwards.”
The program EIR assesses the environmental impacts associated with manure digester and co-digester facilities throughout the Central Valley.
The program EIR will expedite the environmental permitting and regulation of digester and co-digester facilities within the Central Valley for many state and local agencies.
Other state and local permitting agencies may use the Program EIR to satisfy CEQA requirements for other permits related to dairy manure digester and co-digester projects, thus streamlining the permitting process.
For more information: