Gavin Bade, Utility Dive
Summary
GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. — Utility companies clashed with oil industry interests over electric vehicle and fuel subsidies at a meeting of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a conservative political group, last Friday.
Oil-backed groups led by the Institute for Energy Research (IER) proposed a resolution that opposed state efforts to subsidize non-gas vehicles and allow utilities to charge customers for — or "ratebase" — EV charging stations. It was tabled after a protracted floor battle and opposition from utility interests like Duke Energy and the Edison Electric Institute, a trade group.
The battle at ALEC, a secretive group that convenes private companies and conservative legislators, shows how utility interests are diverging from those of the oil and gas sector in an era of low-priced renewable energy and proliferating electric vehicles. Supporters of the resolution say they intend to bring it back up in November at ALEC's annual meeting in New Orleans.
"What we need to do is figure a [way to] work around the corporate rent seekers," said Myron Ebell, energy director at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank that supported the resolution. "Groups like UPS and some of the utilities like Duke Energy and the Edison Electric Institute, we need to figure out a way to work around them."
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