Electric vehicles are cheaper to fuel and maintain than those with combustion engines. The opposite is increasingly true when it comes to vehicle registration fees.

Many states partially fund road upkeep with gasoline taxes, and it’s long been a popular line of attack by fossil fuel supporters to argue that EV drivers don’t pay their fair share. “The rest of us subsidize their use of our roads,” Pennsylvania state Rep. Ed Neilson recently told E&E News. Pennsylvania is home to the country’s second highest gasoline tax, and once it’s implemented, its $250 annual EV charge will be among the heftiest as well.

Supporters of steeper registration fees for EVs point to declining gas tax revenue as a reason to collect more. But here’s the thing: There just aren’t that many electric vehicles on U.S. roads yet. An Experian Automotive Market Trends report from the end of 2023 put the number at 3.3 million — a tiny piece of the estimated 280 million-plus cars in the country. The much bigger reason behind declines in gas tax revenue is the increasing fuel efficiency of combustion cars.

But 39 states — including many that have electric vehicle adoption goals and incentives — are still putting the blame on their small EV populations. As Minnesota state Rep. Frank Hornstein put it to E&E News, the fees are “more of an anti-electric vehicle policy than a road funding policy.”

“We’re not at a point where electric cars are in any way, shape or form quote-unquote ‘stealing’ from the gas tax,” Hornstein said. 

And sure, EV registrations are growing, with the National Renewable Energy Lab forecasting 30-40 million could be on the road by 2030. But fees that cut into EV savings could discourage drivers from making the switch, and make it hard to actually hit that goal.

More clean energy news

💸 Efficiency incentives on hold: The Inflation Reduction Act included $8.8 billion in home energy rebates to help households install heat pumps and make efficient improvements, but the U.S. Energy Department hasn’t approved most states’ plans for rolling out the funding. (Canary Media)

👷 Unions break into clean energy: The United Steelworkers form a neutrality agreement with solar company Convalt Energy as it plans to build two U.S. factories, marking a “significant breakthrough” into unionizing the domestic solar industry, the White House’s climate adviser says. (Axios)

🏭 Calculating LNG risks: Air pollution from liquefied natural gas export terminals in the U.S. is responsible for an estimated 60 premature deaths and $957 million in health costs each year, environmental groups find. (The Guardian)

🌬️ Wind wins: Wind turbines for the first time produced more electricity than coal over two consecutive months, according to the Energy Information Administration. (New York Times)

☑️ Forecasting FERC: Experts weigh in on how the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s newly adopted transmission rules might take shape under a Harris or Trump presidency, and how permitting legislation or a Supreme Court ruling could affect them. (E&E News)

🔌 Chargers’ next challenge: Experts say electric vehicle charger congestion poses the next challenge for deployment, as developers need to consider bursts of holiday and event travel once they’ve satisfied everyday charger needs. (Bloomberg)

🐑 Solar’s wooly good opportunity: A Texas farmer says demand for livestock to maintain vegetation around solar panels has provided “the greatest opportunity for the sheep industry in my lifetime.” (Canary Media)

🛢️ It’s hard to stop oil: The U.S. oil and gas industry’s boom under President Biden illustrates how difficult it is for a president to stop or even slow oil production because of legal, political and market factors. (Washington Post)

⚖️ Having second thoughts: Recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions weakening federal policymaking authority are already giving regulators and agencies pause about implementing strong climate rules, for fear that they’ll be quickly overturned in court. (Grist)

☀️ Solar resilience: Experts share how advancing technology has made solar panels resilient in wind, small hail, and other weather conditions. (Washington Post)

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A scapegoat for state’s shrinking gas tax revenue is an article from Energy News Network, a nonprofit news service covering the clean energy transition. If you would like to support us please make a donation.

ALSO:

• U.S. climate advocates say Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s measured and bureaucratic approach to clean energy programs, and success in attracting federal funding, will lead to policy gains at the federal level. (E&E News)
• Democrats’ newly released party platform calls for reaching net-zero agriculture emissions by 2050 with the help of climate-smart initiatives and other projects. (Successful Farming)

CLEAN ENERGY:

• The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates developers will build 62.8 GW of new power generation capacity this year, with solar and storage leading the way. (Utility Dive)
• The Inflation Reduction Act’s labor standards for clean energy development could create as many as 3.9 million jobs across 6,285 burgeoning projects, a labor advocacy group says. (Utility Dive)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Improving electric vehicles’ efficiency could reduce grid stress, cut charging costs, and mean cars need smaller, less costly batteries, an energy efficiency group finds. (Utility Dive)

COAL: Republican-led states and coal companies ask the U.S. Supreme Court to stop the Biden administration’s crackdown on mercury and other toxic emissions from power plants, arguing it will lead to grid problems if they decide to shut down. (The Hill)

CARBON CAPTURE: A company drops a plan to build a carbon capture facility alongside its $18.4 billion Texas liquified natural gas facility, which is already under construction but which recently hit a legal snag. (DeSmog)

GRID: 

• The pair of 1950s-era coal plants bailed out under Ohio’s House Bill 6 law are likely to remain unprofitable even after record-high payments for generators in PJM’s latest capacity auction, experts say. (Energy News Network)
• Critics say the capacity prices are the result of poor planning, market design failures and governance problems at PJM. (States Newsroom)
• Texas’ grid regulator credits new battery, solar wind power for boosting the state grid and preventing conservation alerts this summer. (KVUE, KDFW)
• New England public advocates say they’re concerned with the structure and cost of Eversource’s proposed $384 million transmission line upgrade project. (NHPR)

PIPELINES: Greenpeace is attempting to use a new European legal strategy to counter SLAPP suits as the organization defends against the Dakota Access pipeline owner’s claims that it incited protests against the project nearly eight years ago. (New York Times)

WIND: The U.S. Energy Department issues a request for information related to offshore wind transmission development along the West Coast. (Renewable Energy Magazine)

CLIMATE: Washington state awards 41 tribal nations and other organizations $14 million from its carbon cap-and-invest program to fund climate change mitigation projects. (NBC Right Now)

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GOP attorneys general group rakes in fossil fuel money is an article from Energy News Network, a nonprofit news service covering the clean energy transition. If you would like to support us please make a donation.

FOSSIL FUELS: A Bitcoin miner in upstate New York sues the state after being denied an air permit renewal for the gas plant powering its operations. (Gothamist)

SOLAR: 

• A new compensation proposal for net metering generators is the subject of several hearings this week by New Hampshire utility regulators. (NHPR)
• A Connecticut solar developer finishes two community solar projects in Maine that have 12.6 MW of collective capacity. (news release)
• New Hampshire utility Unitil breaks ground on the state’s largest solar project, an over 11,000-panel array set to power roughly 1,200 homes. (WMUR)

BATTERIES: A Hydro-Québec subsidiary says its first utility-scale battery energy and storage system in the U.S., a 3 MW facility in Troy, Vermont, is now operational. (news release)

BUILDINGS: New York’s governor is “facing pressure on all sides” amid final rulemaking that aims to set emissions standards for refrigerants in commercial refrigerators, residential heat pumps and chillers over the next decade. (E&E News, subscription)

BIOENERGY: In Pennsylvania, a renewable natural gas plant at a Bethlehem landfill officially opens, with enough capacity to heat 14,000 homes. (Lehigh Valley News)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: 

• A convenience store in Pennsylvania’s Beaver County will host the area’s next electric vehicle charging station, with project developers receiving roughly $627,000 in National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure grants for the work. (The Times)
• A New York school district schedules a public meeting to hear concerns ahead of a public vote on its electric school bus transition plan. (WGRZ)
• A new AAA Northeast survey finds that only around 14% of respondents in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island “definitely” want their next vehicle to be electric, while 42% are “not interested at all.” (PBN)

AFFORDABILITY: Connecticut’s U.S. House delegation wants the state’s utility commission to help alleviate financial pressure on residential ratepayers facing high utility bills. (Hartford Courant)

POLITICS: A New Hampshire newspaper details how the state’s four gubernatorial candidates have described their future climate and energy policies. (New Hampshire Bulletin)

COMMENTARY: 

• A Baltimore columnist writes that companies looking to use electric ferries to increase tourism along the Eastern Shore should think bigger and make them a viable commuting option. (Baltimore Sun)
• A southwestern Pennsylvania transit nonprofit’s deputy director explains how switching from the state’s “ridiculous” mileage self-reporting tax process for electric vehicle drivers to a flat registration fee is a sign of good bipartisanship governance. (Trib Live)

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Eversource transmission line proposal worries New England advocates is an article from Energy News Network, a nonprofit news service covering the clean energy transition. If you would like to support us please make a donation.

POLITICS:

• Climate groups launch a $55 million ad buy to boost Vice President Kamala Harris’ candidacy, highlighting her clean energy promises and prosecutorial record against oil companies. (The Hill)
• Georgia has received outsized benefits and investment under the federal climate package, but those gains could be undone if Donald Trump wins reelection. (Canary Media)
• Climate activists say vice presidential nominee Tim Walz has a complicated climate change record while serving as Minnesota’s governor, by both signing progressive clean energy legislation but also allowing a pipeline expansion. (Salon)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• Experts say electric vehicle charger congestion poses the next challenge for deployment, as developers need to consider bursts of holiday and event travel once they’ve satisfied everyday charger needs. (Bloomberg)
• Former President Trump says he’d consider ending the $7,500 electric vehicle tax credit and may nominate Tesla CEO Elon Musk to a role in his administration if he wins the election. (Reuters)

WIND: Federal ocean energy regulators give the country’s first floating offshore wind research lease to Maine for a project of up to 12 turbines near Portland; the state first sought the lease in 2021. (Associated Press)

CLEAN ENERGY: 

• Analysts predict a second Trump administration would imperil dozens of pending solar, wind and geothermal projects on federal land in the West. (E&E News)
• Democratic lawmakers are divided over a bipartisan permitting reform bill that could speed both clean energy and fossil fuel deployment. (The Hill)
• The Inflation Reduction Act is having a transformative effect on U.S. manufacturing growth, particularly in the clean energy sector, though some investors are concerned that the outcome of the presidential election could weaken the 2-year-old law. (CNBC)

CARBON CAPTURE: Oil companies are pinning their decarbonization hopes on carbon capture projects to reduce their emissions, but rising construction costs and the lagging pace of related infrastructure development are cutting into the value of  federal tax credits for the technology. (Houston Chronicle)

OIL & GAS: Aggressive sales tactics and “compulsion” laws means many Ohio landowners with fracking wells on their properties were forced to accept them, according to a new study. (The Hill)

SOLAR: A solar company’s partnership with a Minnesota agriculture nonprofit helps emerging farmers from around the world grow crops alongside community solar projects. (Sahan Journal)

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What the election means for FERC’s transmission rules is an article from Energy News Network, a nonprofit news service covering the clean energy transition. If you would like to support us please make a donation.

POLITICS:

• Climate advocates see promise in Vice President Kamala Harris’ candidacy, saying she could better sell the Inflation Reduction Act’s climate benefits and prioritize environmental justice. (Inside Climate News)
• This week’s Democratic National Convention in Chicago is expected to devote some time to climate change as energy and environment groups promote their messages. (E&E News)
• Republican leaders struggle to drum up support for repealing parts of the Inflation Reduction Act as its clean energy incentives head to Republican-represented districts. (E&E News)

OIL & GAS:

• A top fuel and petrochemical trade group racked up $8.1 million in spending on federal lobbying in the first half of 2024, marking the first time the group outspent individual oil and gas companies. (OpenSecrets)
• Advocates criticize Chevron for operating a local news website in the Permian Basin, saying it exists solely to prop up the industry. (Floodlight)

CLEAN ENERGY:

• The clean energy transition is generating enthusiasm and skepticism as a utility moves forward with plans to replace a central Minnesota coal plant with a large solar and storage project. (New York Times)
• A survey of non-union construction and maintenance workers in Texas’ solar and wind industries finds many have faced injuries, heat-related illness, or racial disparities in pay and benefits. (Houston Chronicle)

GRID: 

• Unlike other states that have hardened their power grids in response to disasters, critics say Texas officials have allowed utilities to continue a costly pattern of destroy-and-rebuild. (Houston Chronicle)
• Analysts say a significant buildup of battery energy storage capacity over the last two years has helped California’s grid weather this summer’s heat wave-driven power demand spikes. (East Bay Times)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• Georgia voters love the thousands of jobs accompanying a wave of electric vehicle and battery plants but still have doubts about electric vehicles themselves. (Politico)
• Despite recent electric vehicle job growth in Michigan, the state is seeing generally underwhelming interest in EV tech programs launching at community colleges across the state. (Bridge)

SOLAR:

• Experts share how advancing technology has made solar panels resilient in wind, small hail, and other weather conditions. (Washington Post)
• Solar power’s potential to help BIPOC farmers hold on to their land was among the key themes at a recent panel exploring agrivoltaics. (Energy News Network)

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Supreme Court decisions already threaten climate action is an article from Energy News Network, a nonprofit news service covering the clean energy transition. If you would like to support us please make a donation.