(The Center Square) – The Michigan League of Conservation Voters is applauding after Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel filed an anti-trust lawsuit last week against four of the nation’s largest oil companies.
Nessel alleges the companies worked together to block the adoption of clean energy and electric vehicle initiatives, as previously reported by TCS.
In an exclusive interview with Nick Dodge, the MLCV’s communications director, Dodge said they believe these actions are having a tangible impact on consumers’ bills.
“Big Oil and Big Utility CEOs have shown time and again that their primary goal is maximizing profits at the expense of Michiganders’ pocketbooks and health,” Dodge said. “Dirty fossil fuel has only led to a never-ending series of rate hikes on families.”
Nessel labeled the companies, and their primary trade association (the American Petroleum Institute), a “cartel” which has been operating for decades.
“Michigan is facing an energy affordability crisis as our home energy costs skyrocket and consumers are left without affordable options for transportation,” Nessel said. “These out-of-control costs are not the result of natural economic inflation, but due to the greed of these corporations who prioritized their own profit and marketplace dominance over competition and consumer savings.”
Dodge agreed with that assessment.
“Michiganders pay the highest energy rates in the Midwest for the longest amount of time out of power in the country,” he said. “We know clean energy, like solar, is the cheapest and fastest way to meet growing energy demand and lower our bills. Instead, these companies are using the cover of Trump and unchecked data center build outs to justify massive increases in coal, methane gas and other polluting sources.”
Attorneys for the defendants have called these claims and the lawsuit “baseless.”
“Federal and state courts have dismissed lawsuits seeking climate-related damages in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, and South Carolina,” said Chevron attorney Theodore J. Boutrous Jr.
Michigan is seeking unspecified financial compensation, the forfeit of corporate profits resulting from the alleged conspiracy, and the end to the “anticompetitive conspiracy.”
Republicans in the state labeled the lawsuit “bizarre,” “partisan,” and just another way to push “green scam policy.”
“Michigan taxpayers wasted billions on EVs & green energy,” said Tom Leonard, Republican candidate for governor and former speaker of the state House. “Now the AG wants to waste millions more to sue oil companies because reality didn’t fit the narrative. Legislators, you control the purse strings. It’s time to cut her budget.”
Dodge said the MLCV is hopeful this lawsuit will have a real effect on lower costs for consumers.
“Restoring competition and prioritizing clean energy is essential to lowering costs, improving reliability and expanding consumer choice across Michigan,” he said. “Fair, transparent markets benefit everyone.”
Michigan consistently ranks one of the most-expensive states in the nation for electricity costs, as previously reported by The Center Square. Other reports have also found that the electrical grid in the state also struggles with frequent and prolonged outages.
In September, State Democrats joined a coalition of advocacy groups pushing Michigan’s first-ever Ratepayer Bill of Rights in an effort to bring down energy prices. The MLCV was also a part of that coalition.
Shell and Chevron did not respond to requests for comment by the time of publication.
