California Retail Fuel Outlet Annual Reporting (CEC-A15) Results

The Petroleum Industry Information Reporting Act (PIIRA) requires all retail transportation fueling stations in California to file a Retail Fuel Outlet Annual Report (CEC-A15) with the California Energy Commission (CEC). These stations report retail sales of gasoline, diesel, and other transportation fuels.

  • A15 sales data represents nearly 90 percent of total gasoline consumed in California.
  • A15 survey response totals will not reach 100 percent of estimated total consumption of gasoline from one year to the next due to various reasons.
    • Not all locations dispensing fuel to end-users are required to report sales to the CEC, estimated to be 5 to 8 percent of statewide totals.
    • Not all retail locations respond to the survey, estimated 2 to 5 percent of statewide volume.

Number of Retail Fuel Stations by Fuel – Survey Responses

Reporting Year Gasoline Diesel E851 Propane Natural Gas2 Total Stations
Survey Responses*		 Total Stations
Estimated

2010

7,707

3,715

36

679

42

7,965

9,800

2011

8,036

3,942

42

809

48

8,343

9,710

2012

7,748

3,847

51

805

32

8,038

10,219

2013

7,044

3,579

59

699

46

7,293

10,076

2014

6,369

3,416

56

714

29

6,594

10,080

2015

7,240

4,095

81

573

139

7,516

10,309

2016

8,456

4,790

111

651

164

8,924

10,481

2017

8,353

4,854

127

349

142

8,872

10,353

2018

8,256

4,873

148

381

155

8,684

10,266

2019

8,269

4,958

181

301

121

8,713

10,449
2020 8,492 5,183 236 318 168 8,958 10,294

Source: California Energy Commission
*Stations by fuel type will not equal total respondents due to stations often dispensing multiple fuel types.

Stations by county

Retail Sales Volumes – Survey Responses (Million Gallons)

Reporting Year Gasoline Diesel E851 Propane Natural Gas2
2010 12,238 1,285 2.00 32.64 4.09
2011 12,644 1,346 3.89 19.82 7.26
2012 12,241 1,327 5.12 25.44 6.60
2013 11,418 1,261 7.31 13.99 6.17
2014 10,220 1,226 4.99 18.23 3.94
2015 12,044 1,592 11.99 13.83 41.19
2016 13,787 1,743 16.85 9.09 45.16
2017 13,936 1,717 23.01 6.24 45.61
2018 13,578 1,602 32.04 4.04 37.82
2019 13,473 1,559 37.25 3.16 17.57
2020 11,173 1,626 51.25 3.45 41.1

Source: California Energy Commission

A15 Report Responses vs. California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) (Million Gallons)

Reporting Year CEC-A15 Reported
Gasoline Volumes		 % Differences CDTFA3
Gasoline
Taxable		 CEC-A15
Reported Diesel
Volumes		 CDTFA4 Taxable
Diesel Sales
2010 12,238 17.6 % 14,861 1,285 2,590
2011 12,644 13.4 % 14,606 1,346 2,622
2012 12,241 12.7 % 14,486 1,327 2,603
2013 11,394 21.6 % 14,540 1,261 2,740
2014 10,220 30.4 % 14,701 1,226 2,776
2015 12,044 20.3 % 15,108 1,592 2,825
2016 13,787 11.0 % 15,492 1,743 3,005
2017 13,936 10.6 % 15,584 1,717 3,124
2018 13,475 12.9 % 15,471 1,601 3,074
2019 13,473 12.3% 15,365 1,559 3,086
2020 11,173 11.1% 12,572 1,626 2,979

Source: California Energy Commission
Note: CDTFA tracks all gasoline and diesel sales in California for taxation purposes, but accounts for those sales at the finished fuel terminal level where taxation first occurs. Because of this, CDTFA gasoline and diesel sales have no regional dimension available. The CEC-A15 tracks fuel sales at the retail level, station by station, but since the current number of stations is constantly changing and the full station population is unknown, staff uses the total known CDTFA gasoline and diesel sales figures as a benchmark to achieve in data collection efforts. Differences in these two figures estimate the amount of sales underreported in CEC-A15 results.

Sales by county

California Annual Retail Fuel Outlet Report Results (CEC-A15)

The following Excel file contains annual CEC-A15 results and analyses summarized in county level tables for station counts, gasoline sales, and diesel sales. Figures in the workbooks graphically display the gasoline sales and diesel sales tables.

A15 Survey Responses – Gasoline Sales (Million Gallons) By Municipality

The following Excel file is the total aggregated sales volume of gasoline at retail locations that completed the A15 survey by municipality and by year.

Data does not represent total consumption of gasoline in a municipality due to:

  • Missing sales volumes from non-retail locations not required to respond to the A15.
  • Missing sales volumes from retail locations that did not respond to the A15 survey during a particular year.

A15 Top 30 Cities - Survey Responses Gasoline Sales (Million Gallons)

Rank City 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
1 LOS ANGELES 543 577 570 513 462 490 578 597 553 551 434
2 SAN DIEGO 424 436 419 351 383 430 458 478 464 455 351
3 SACRAMENTO 237 260 260 255 174 256 279 284 264 278 245
4 SAN JOSE 264 300 293 279 218 287 324 319 298 311 235
5 BAKERSFIELD 191 194 194 179 169 181 221 217 205 204 191
6 FRESNO 150 154 156 144 108 154 185 192 176 159 156
7 RIVERSIDE 118 120 119 116 115 127 147 148 154 143 129
8 LONG BEACH 129 129 134 121 125 120 130 129 127 125 100
9 STOCKTON 107 102 96 97 80 95 109 109 102 107 97
10 ANAHEIM 128 124 129 106 96 115 136 135 129 121 92
11 SAN BERNARDINO 75 86 83 81 71 81 86 96 91 87 88
12 CHULA VISTA 86 95 86 86 79 103 111 108 112 105 86
13 CORONA 104 111 105 108 110 111 112 122 110 113 85
14 FONTANA 87 84 83 77 75 78 97 94 91 98 82
15 MODESTO 84 77 83 66 70 96 103 107 102 89 78
16 SAN FRANCISCO 112 129 127 118 71 107 120 120 105 107 76
17 ONTARIO 85 93 78 78 76 70 110 98 92 84 75
18 ESCONDIDO 74 81 75 66 62 73 77 77 77 81 71
19 OAKLAND 92 90 86 78 51 73 83 89 86 80 70
20 ROSEVILLE 63 65 70 53 55 72 80 84 78 85 69
21 OXNARD 68 72 64 65 64 69 72 80 85 81 68
22 SANTA ANA 81 75 81 72 81 81 85 84 83 86 66
23 SANTA ROSA 69 68 74 76 60 70 83 83 75 76 66
24 ELK GROVE 55 50 48 45 25 55 68 59 64 77 65
25 TORRANCE 82 88 80 72 75 84 93 84 84 80 63
26 IRVINE 75 79 78 77 78 79 84 88 87 85 63
27 FULLERTON 55 64 67 66 65 65 72 75 81 82 63
28 SALINAS 62 74 66 60 43 73 82 73 74 71 63
29 VAN NUYS 77 75 70 64 65 58 65 75 72 65 60
30 HUNTINGTON BEACH 60 63 65 68 66 63 74 73 70 67 60

Source: California Energy Commission

Methodology for Estimating Stations and Sales

Using a statistical resampling methodology, staff estimates the total gasoline station population by matching gasoline sales reported by the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA). This is done by using a subset of the CEC-A15 reporting stations to estimate the characteristics of the missing fueling station population. Since large fueling retailer chains are easier to survey due to their visibility, the resampling is weighted toward smaller retailers as it is assumed they are the primary non-responders to this report.

1 According to the Air Resources Board (ARB), E-85 dispensed, in California, averages 83 percent ethanol and 17 percent gasoline.
2 Natural Gas survey responses are measured in Gasoline Gallon Equivalent (GGE).
3 Source: California Energy Commission (CEC) analysis of California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) taxable gasoline figures.
4 Source: CDTFA taxable diesel figures which include taxable retail sales and taxable non-retail sales.

Transportation Energy