Resolution Regarding Subsidies for Electric Vehicles Exposed

The Resolution Regarding Subsidies for Electric Vehicles is a draft model policy considered by ALEC's Energy, Environment and Agriculture Task Force at the States and Nation Policy Summit on December 3, 2015. Due to incomplete information, it is not known if the bill passed in a vote by legislators and lobbyists at ALEC task force meetings, if ALEC sought to distance itself from the bill as the public increased scrutiny of its pay-to-play activities, or if key operative language from the bill has been introduced by an ALEC legislator in a state legislature in the ensuing period or became binding law. The bill language below is from a ALEC 35 day mailer, available here.

ALEC Model Bill

WHEREAS, affordable and dependable energy is essential to modern life, America’s economic competitiveness, and the well-being of American citizens and business;

WHEREAS, anything that increases the costs of energy – particularly without providing a measurable, meaningful benefit to those affected by such an increase – has an immediate and negative impact on citizens and institutions, especially the poor, the elderly, those on fixed incomes, and local institutions such as schools and hospitals;

WHEREAS, consumers, individuals, families, and businesses should make their own decisions about what kinds of cars to buy and what kinds of fuels to use;

WHEREAS, consumers, individuals, families, and businesses should not be forced to subsidize others, especially those with more income and assets;

WHEREAS, the Federal government and a majority of individual States currently provide subsidies – in the form of tax credits, rebates, or other incentives – to owners of electric vehicles and/or charging stations;

WHEREAS, a recent study noted that 90 percent of all tax credits for the purchases of electric vehicles went to the wealthiest one-fifth of households;

WHEREAS, some utilities have entered into agreements in which costs to construct and operate electric vehicle charging stations will be placed in the rate base, meaning that all ratepayers will have to pay for electric vehicle infrastructure that will ultimately likely be used by only a small minority of wealthier ratepayers;

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT the American Legislative Exchange Council opposes all Federal and state efforts to compel ratepayers to subsidize electric vehicle charging stations or the electricity dispensed by such stations.