Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday jumped into the debate over the spike in natural gas prices affecting millions of California utility customers, calling on federal regulators to look at whether gouging or market manipulation is at work.
And on the local level, a few dozen protesters vented their frustrations in front the headquarters of San Diego Gas & Electric while a coalition of environmental, political and consumer groups called on the San Diego City Council to hold hearings into why SDG&E's natural gas prices soared to record highs in January.
The state's investor-owned utilities have pointed to a confluence of reasons for the dramatic increase in natural gas commodity prices, including abnormally cold weather that caused Californians to crank up their heating units. But "those known factors cannot explain the extent and longevity of the price spike," Newsom said in a letter to the chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission — the agency that oversees transmission and wholesale sale of electricity and natural gas in interstate commerce.
