Today, Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones (R-San Diego) sent a follow-up letter to Governor Gavin Newsom requesting immediate action to stop the closure of California’s gasoline refineries. The letter warns that the Governor will not only be responsible, but complicit in an entirely preventable energy crisis that will devastate working Californians. Click here to read the letter.
“For the past three decades, California Democrat politicians have led a crusade against our gasoline suppliers,” said Leader Jones. “And under Governor Newsom, it’s been full steam ahead on a full-fledged attack that’s now driving them to close entirely.”
“Let me paint a picture for you, Governor: we’ll be back in the 1970s gas shortage, where people had assigned days to fill up their tank and waited hours in line. That will be your legacy in California. But, it’s entirely preventable if you act immediately, before the Legislature breaks on July 17, to save our refineries,” continued Leader Jones.
On May 6, 2025, Leader Jones first sounded the alarm in a detailed letter to Governor Newsom, warning about the consequences of closing the Phillips 66 refinery in Los Angeles and the Valero refinery in Benicia, together representing about 20% of California’s in-state gasoline supply. In that letter, Leader Jones respectfully requested a response and offered to help find immediate solutions. To date, Governor Newsom has failed to respond or outline any plan whatsoever for preventing the looming energy crisis.
Leader Jones’ latest letter follows months of warnings from industry experts, repeated warnings from Republican lawmakers, and projections from a USC Marshall School of Business study, which estimates gas prices could skyrocket by as much as 75% to $8.43 per gallon by the end of 2026 if the two refineries close.
Even Governor Newsom’s own California Energy Commission (CEC) is now warning of disaster, writing last week:
“The CEC thinks it is prudent to immediately stabilize in-state supply by working to retain in-state refining capacity while demand persists, and by supporting sufficient imports, storage, and delivery of refined products.”
Yet, Newsom’s Administration has provided no plan to keep either refinery open or prevent further closures that would gut California’s fuel supply, kill thousands of good-paying jobs, and send gas prices soaring past $8 per gallon.
“Newsom is not only responsible, but now complicit,” Leader Jones added. “If these refineries close, it will send an unmistakable message that the shortages and sky-high prices that follow are not just tolerated, they were deliberately planned. Newsom is getting what he always wanted: refinery closures and historic price spikes, paid for by working Californians.”
Leader Jones’ letter calls on the Governor to, for once, admit he was wrong and take immediate action before the Legislature adjourns for summer recess on July 17 to keep California’s refineries open and prevent an avoidable, self-inflicted energy crisis.
Leader Jones has long warned that Governor Newsom’s policies would lead to a self-inflicted gas price crisis. In November 2024, Leader Jones published an op-ed in the San Diego Union-Tribune outlining how Newsom’s attack on our gas supply would force prices higher and squeeze working families. Click here to read the op-ed.