It was a mandate with no plan - at least that's how state Republicans characterized it.
Governor Lamont wants to phase out the sale of all new gas powered-vehicles by 2035. The focus would be replacing them with electric vehicles.
But after months of pushback, the governor pulled the plug on this this week. So what's next?
NBC Connecticut's Mike Hydeck spoke with Republican House Minority Leader Vincent Candelora, who is one of the most ardent opponents of that mandate.
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Mike Hydeck: Now, in that soundbite you just heard, that was General Motors, the governor saying committing to all electric by 2035. General Motors rolled back that a little bit this week saying, Look, we have to put a little bit of a pause on this because EVs are not what the market wants, right now at least.
Vincent Candelora: Yeah, that's right. I mean, we've seen the manufacturers are struggling even without the mandate to try to get people to buy into the electric vehicles. I think there's a whole host of reasons. You know, the limited mobility, the shorter miles, the anxiety of having charging stations, needing to install a charging station. So there's a lot of logistics that are going into this, and the market just isn't ready.
Mike Hydeck: So one of the main things you were against this mandate was what? Do you have one or two things that you said, 'Look, this just doesn't sit well with me?'
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Vincent Candelora: Yeah, I think what Connecticut has to do is first say, are we ready for this, in an electric capacity point of view. Everyone understands that we need to double the electric capacity in Connecticut. We need to improve the grid structure. And we have a state regulatory agency that's not supplying the money to these companies to improve the grid. So without electricity, the vehicles are going to be a problem.
Mike Hydeck: So what do you think though, as soon as this mandate came out, Eversource came out, UI came out, to say, 'Look, we can't bear all this cost.' What role should there be from them? They're making money.
Vincent Candelora: Yeah, well, I mean, they're going to have to be the ones that build out this grid. And so they're going to need to go to Connecticut and explain to them what the cost is going to be. And then the state is going to need to approve those costs. Right now, we have seen no evidence that the state is willing to allow the utility companies to pay for it, unlike Massachusetts.
Mike Hydeck: So it has to be reimbursed, at least a certain amount of if they paid for the upfront costs?
Vincent Candelora: That's right. I mean, they're a company. It has to work that way in Massachusetts, you know, they're investing billions of dollars already in their grid.
Mike Hydeck: Right, so we need to do the same. So major car companies, they're backing the switch, but in a longer haul situation. Ford, Honda, GM, as aforementioned. But one of the things also Republicans talked about, and other people who are concerned about this mandate, was the price of EVs right now are significantly higher. But meter that out a decade, chances are the prices are going to go down and at least be more affordable. Don't you think?
Vincent Candelora: You hope so. But the reality is, if they're not, it's a problem for middle class and lower income families. And one of the issues as well is just the charging stations. If I live in a high rise apartment in New Haven, where am I going to park my vehicle to charge it? And so we have a lot of conversation that needs to happen before we try to mandate.
Mike Hydeck: So there are a lot of pieces to this puzzle as we're starting to delineate right now. As far as the state's involvement in that, do we need to have a committee for each one of these things? Like a committee that deals with Eversource, a committee that deals with the people who build out the chargers, a committee that deals with what are we going to do with all the batteries when they have to be disposed of? How do we do this?
Vincent Candelora: A lot of that's already happening. So I think there's already a structure in place for PURA and for the utility companies to come into play and have that conversation. Charging stations, we've already bonded money to sort of map out what the charging stations are going to look like. But I think the biggest conversation is that electric grid, and we are a cul-de-sac in Connecticut. We need to figure out how to get power into this state when New York doesn't want us to bring in natural gas. The federal government denied hydropower. We need to have the power conversation first, before we can start mandating.
Mike Hydeck: And what does that conversation look like? Does it have to be look, we need to connect to other states? We need to solve the LNG situation?
Vincent Candelora: I think it's all of it. We're seeing actually, you know, DEEP, they're opening up a docket to start looking at different avenues of power, even nuclear. So that conversation needs to happen. And then logistics need to be worked out. The heavyweight trucks and the vehicles. Technology's not there yet. Don't put a mandate on the books when businesses don't have an option then of how to transport their goods and services. I think it sends a wrong message to the economy. And so I think that needs to be pushed off down the road.
Mike Hydeck: Last question, I got about 30 seconds. Are we in danger of losing federal money because this is coming with a transportation plan, too, or can that be dealt with somehow?
Vincent Candelora: Yeah, that can always be dealt with. The claim is we're going to lose money for charging stations. But if you don't have the electricity to power those charging stations, that money is pointless. Leave it in the federal government, don't spend it. Let's get the grid going first.
