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Richmond’s Plan to Spend $550 Million from Chevron Considers a Future Without the Oil Giant

After a settlement with Chevron, Richmond officials outlined a plan that includes funding for essential city services and economic development.
Laura Klivans
The Chevron Refinery, a petroleum refinery, can be seen from Point Richmond on Jan. 13, 2022. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)

Richmond leaders are marching ahead with a plan to spend $550 million that the city is slated to receive over the next decade from an August settlement with Chevron, eyeing upgrades to essential city services and preparations for a future less dependent on fossil fuels.

The City Council voted 6–1 Tuesday night to approve a resolution roughly outlining how funds would be distributed. In addition to prioritizing services like maintaining roads, improving parks and building affordable housing, the resolution aims to prepare the city to weather the potential loss of its largest taxpayer in Chevron’s Richmond refinery.

“Let us not be Detroit when the auto industry crashed,” said Councilmember Doria Robinson, who helped craft the resolution. “We know the state of California has a mandate to stop selling combustion-fueled cars. That is going to impact the fossil fuel industry.”

Councilmember Gayle McLaughlin and Vice Mayor Claudia Jimenez worked with Robinson on the plan, which garnered significant support among those who publicly commented.

The resolution emphasizes “community-led” decision-making in how the funds will be used and lays out a plan to spend the money to develop Richmond’s local economy and workforce.

In its settlement last month, Chevron agreed to pay $550 million if Richmond dropped a November ballot measure that would have imposed a new oil-refining tax on the company. The measure appeared to be overwhelmingly popular among the public.

“Families living with the pollution of the Chevron refinery needed confirmation that hard-fought settlement funds would be invested in our health and well-being,” Richmond resident Sandy Saeteurn said in a statement. “With tonight’s vote, the city is committing to fund the services and infrastructure we need today while planning for a future beyond oil for Richmond when the refinery closes.” Saeteurn is Contra Costa’s political director for the environmental justice group Asian Pacific Environmental Network Action, which helped propose the initial oil-refining tax.

Councilmember Soheila Bana introduced a competing resolution on Tuesday to hire outside consultants to help plan fund distributions. The resolution did not draw much support from the public or other council members.

Under the settlement, Chevron will pay the city $50 million annually for the next five years and $60 million annually for the next five years.

“As the City’s largest employer and taxpayer, we have been enabling human progress in Richmond for over 100 years and remain invested in the continued progress and prosperity of the Richmond community we share,” a Chevron spokesperson said in a statement to KQED. “Our recent agreement with the City builds on this partnership, and we hope the associated funding will be used responsibly and transparently to help our Richmond community flourish.”

Payments to the city of Richmond will start July 30, 2025.

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