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BREAKING NEWS from The
Energy Marketers of America
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November 19, 2024
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Energy Marketers of America File Antitrust Action to Block Automakers’ Agreement with California to Electrify Heavy-Duty Truck Fleets
Tuesday,
November 19, 2024
- Today, the State of
Nebraska, the Energy
Marketers of America,
and Renewable Fuels
Nebraska (RFN) filed an
antitrust action in the
District Court of
Nebraska, Lincoln
County, alleging that
the 2023 “Clean Truck
Partnership” agreement
(CTP) between all major
domestic manufacturers
(OEMs) of medium and
heavy-duty vehicles
(MHDVs) and the
California Air Resources
Board (CARB) is
anti-competitive.
The CTP commits the
OEMs to meet CARB's
zero-emission mandates
for MHDVs, including the
timelines (100 percent
by 2036) in California's
Advanced Clean Trucks
and Advanced Clean
Fleets programs,
irrespective of any
litigation challenging
the State's regulations
or CARB's authority to
implement them. It also
commits the OEMs to
follow CARB’s
regulations in every
state that has or “will”
adopt them – again, even
if they are ultimately
found to be unlawful.
Based on the CTP, the
OEMs will reduce their
output of internal
combustion engine (ICE)
vehicles, thereby
eliminating consumer
choice, and in turn
drive-up prices for
those same vehicles in
Nebraska and elsewhere
to subsidize the
so-called “transition”
to zero-emission
vehicles (ZEVs).
Further, the OEMs’ broad
promise to follow CARB’s
regulations in other
states that purportedly
“will” adopt them, and
to not oppose any such
out-of-state proposals,
reflects the OEMs’
intention to reduce
output and raise prices
in states that have not
and may never adopt such
regulations, including
Nebraska.
Unfortunately, consumers
will have fewer options
and be forced to pay
higher prices for their
preferred ICE vehicles –
while these vehicles are
still available. When
the supply of ICE
vehicles runs dry,
consumers will be left
to purchase ZEVs they do
not want – vehicles that
come with a sticker
price two or three times
higher than comparable
ICE vehicles.
Ultimately, the CTP
ensures that each OEM
electrifies its MHDV
fleet at the same pace
and on the same timeline
to guarantee that no
member sustains any
competitive
disadvantage. This is
done largely at the
expense of states, such
as Nebraska, which have
no intention of
following California’s
regulations, and at the
expense of consumers who
have no desire to
purchase ZEVs but will
have to pay higher
prices for the ICE
vehicles they want. The
bottom line is that the
CTP is anti-competitive.
“Unfortunately, the
OEMs’ and CARB’s
aggressive attempt to
electrify the heavy-duty
transportation sector
will limit consumer
choice, increase
Americans’ utility bills
to subsidize a massive
expansion of the
electric grid for EV
charging, and threaten
the viability and jobs
of small business energy
marketers around the
country,” said EMA
President Rob Underwood.
Today, electrified
heavy-duty vehicles make
up just one tenth of one
percent of all heavy
vehicles. Unfortunately,
the OEMs and CARB want
to arbitrarily increase
that figure
exponentially over the
next several years. This
forced transition to
electric trucks will
increase the cost of
procuring the trucks
that the Energy
Marketers of America's
members need to continue
serving American
motorists.
In the
antitrust complaint
filed today, the Energy
Marketers of America
urges the court to
declare the CTP null and
void.
Click here to read
the complaint.
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