With times changing and the cost of living getting higher and higher, drivers in California will have to pay more in 2025. According to the latest information, car owners in California will pay more next year. The Californians will pay $1000 a year on gas prices.
Will drivers in California pay more in 2025
Yes, the latest trends suggest that Californians will need to make up to $1,000 a year more to afford projected gas prices for 2025, and that is according to an estimate by a professor from the University of Southern California.
In a research conducted by Michael A. Mische of the university’s Marshall School of Business, he noted that fuel prices in the state are expected to increase by as much as 62 percent higher than the national average.
As the research discovered, the increase is due to come after the California Air Resources Board passed updates to the state’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard which includes requiring gas stations to carry a more expensive, but cleaner, fuel blend.
It is also estimated that the prices may vary for the exact amount that fuel prices will increase. “The California Air Resources Board estimates that the change will raise retail prices of gasoline by $0.47 a gallon,” reports Newsweek.
However, Mische claims that a separate study by the University of Pennsylvania Kleinman Center for Energy Policy found that retail prices could increase by $0.65 a gallon next year, $0.85 a gallon in 2030 and $1.50 a gallon in 2035.
“Beyond the new fuel blend, prices will also be driven up by the passage of ABX2-1 in October, which requires California oil refineries to maintain a ready stock of finished gasoline,” Mische said.
The additional costs for producers are expected to cause retail prices to further increase by $0.047 to $0.27 per gallon, depending on the required amount of supply.
To compensate for these increased prices, an average Californian would need to earn between $600 and $1,000 more in pre-tax income compared to 2024 levels, Mische estimated.
California already has high prices but will go up in 2025
As things stand, California already has the highest average gas prices in the United States of America with regular gasoline priced at $4.96 per gallon, according to the World Population Review.
What’s causing such a high price, this is mainly due to several factors or reasons and these include higher taxes and more strict environmental regulations.
The Golden State has historically led the nation in emissions reduction efforts, partly because of its air quality issues. It is the only state that can implement stricter emissions standards than those set by the federal government.
Will Trump’s return have an impact in 2025
With the Republicans having won the elections and President-elect Donald Trump set to return to office, he has pledged to prevent any individual state from setting its own emission rules and from banning gasoline-powered vehicles, a policy California plans to phase in by 2035.
“The world is watching California to see if we will maintain leadership or fracture under internal pressure for perfectionism,” state Senator Henry Stern said in a statement after regulators voted to allow changes to the Low Carbon Fuel Standard earlier this month, per Reuters.
“California has a long history of enacting visionary and affordable climate policies that are durable enough to endure major shifts in national politics like we just witnessed.”
The publication also posted that California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed on the dotted line in October with a view to help combat soaring gas prices, thus marking an escalation in his ongoing confrontation with the oil industry over energy prices.