A forthcoming waiver request from the State of California calling for a ban on the sale of new gas- and diesel-powered vehicles raises serious questions about the reliability of the nation’s already-stressed electric grid and the need to generate additional power, according to an Oct. 6 letter U.S. Reps. Bob Latta (R-OH), John Joyce (R-PA), and 156 of their Republican colleagues sent to President Joe Biden.
“Earlier this year, America’s energy regulators warned states about elevated risks to the reliability of our electric grid and the increased threat of brown and black outs,” Rep. Latta said in a joint related statement. “Instead of heeding those warnings, California politicians are pursuing stifling new regulations to ban gas- and diesel-powered cars by 2035. This effort will extend far beyond California’s borders and will make it more difficult for Americans to get to work, drop their kids off at school, and travel to visit loved ones.”
Specifically, the lawmakers oppose the state’s ban on new internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) in August voted to place new requirements on automakers that would effectively ban the sale of new ICE cars and light trucks by 2035 in favor of zero-emission vehicles, like plug-in hybrid, full battery-electric, and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.
For California to move forward with implementation, it will need to obtain a waiver of Clean Air Act preemption provisions from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) due to widespread concerns about the negative impact it would have on the electric grid, the need for more power generation, the overreliance on foreign adversaries for critical minerals, and consumer choice, according to their letter, which was also signed by members including U.S. House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), U.S. House Republican Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA), and U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA).
Rep. Latta pointed out that California lawmakers recently told residents to reduce their energy consumption, and are now contradicting themselves by forcing them to become more reliant on the electric grid through the mandatory transition from traditional vehicles to electric-only vehicles.
“These actions are misguided and will further exacerbate the strain on our grid,” he said. “California’s proposal is wrong; we must stand up now to preserve the reliability of our nation’s electric grid and the rights of Americans to choose the vehicles they want to drive.”
In the lawmakers’ statement, Rep. Joyce added that the state’s “discriminatory waiver request” would set a costly and dangerous precedent. “Americans should not be coerced into making purchases they cannot afford, and they should be free to drive the roads built with their tax dollars in the vehicles they otherwise would choose to drive,” the congressman said. “This heavy-handed proposal picks winners and losers, and I am proud to stand with my colleagues in urging the EPA to deny this outrageous request.”
CARB has admitted that this action would extend beyond the state’s borders, with 17 other states bound to follow California’s standards, constituting 40 percent of the entire nation’s new car sales, they wrote.
“These grid reliability concerns are so obvious that they cannot be ignored. Clearly, the goal of CARB’s new regulation is to put California on a path towards full electrification of the on-road fleet, which would mean the state would need to be able to generate enough electricity to continuously charge 30 million registered vehicles,” wrote the lawmakers. “If the state’s electric grid is currently struggling to handle more demand for electricity, how will it be able to integrate the additional 2,250,000,000 kWhs it will need to charge its fleet?”
The EPA should reject California’s request for a waiver of the Clean Air Act presumption provisions, according to their letter.
“Not only are there technical and logistical barriers, but also philosophical concerns with telling the American people what products they can and cannot buy,” they wrote. “We urge you to consider these concerns and allow them to inform EPA’s final decision on the waiver.”