SACRAMENTO, Calif. — As lawmakers debate who is to blame for California’s high gas prices, Attorney General Rob Bonta is seeking millions of new dollars to investigate and possibly sue oil companies over the matter.
But according to experts, it appears unlikely that such investigations would lead to a court finding significant violations of the law.
“The antitrust laws are very narrow,” said Severin Borenstein, director of University of California, Berkeley’s Energy Institute. “What’s illegal is independent companies getting together to set prices or merging in order to become more powerful in the market. What’s not illegal is for a big company in a market to raise its prices to make more money.”
