The oil industry is wealthy and influential on transportation policy. But when it comes to electric vehicles, they have a natural — and more similarly sized — opponent in electric utilities. Electric utilities stand to make a lot of money selling electricity as fuel to EV drivers, while oil companies will lose market share in the process.
California policy makers deliberately exploited and stoked this rivalry in passing SB 350 (De Leon) in 2015, which allowed utilities to invest billions in charging infrastructure around the state. Other states have followed suit.
We’re now seeing the political fruit of that division pay off, in favor of electric vehicles. Case in point is a recent battle at the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council, which convenes conservative lawmakers and private-sector representatives to draft model legislation pushing conservative governance across the country.
Koch brothers-backed oil industry groups tried to push an effort to eliminate state incentives for electric vehicles and electric vehicle charging. But as ClimateWire reported [pay-walled], the oil industry met a worth foe:
The draft resolution, pushed by the Institute for Energy Research and backed by groups like the Competitive Enterprise Institute, opposed all federal, state and local efforts to subsidize vehicles, fueling infrastructure or fuels. That would have put up major roadblocks for states looking to expand their electric vehicle sales to meet climate or energy independence goals and for utilities looking to build the infrastructure to fuel the new cars.
The Edison Electric Institute, a trade group for utilities, fought the legislation, which was eventually tabled.
It’s perhaps just a small victory for EVs. But it points to the long-term political trend of Big Oil meeting their match in Big Utilities. While economic forces can help make electric vehicles competitive with gas-powered engines, it will also take this kind of political support to accelerate the transition — and weaken the oil industry’s hold over transportation in the U.S.
