Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm’s summer road trip in an electric vehicle has landed her in the hot seat with a top congressional Republican.
Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, the No. 3 Senate Republican and ranking member of the chamber’s Energy Committee, peppered the Biden official Wednesday with questions about an altercation during her four-day excursion in which a Granholm staffer blocked access to an EV charging station by using a gas-powered vehicle to reserve it for the secretary.
The incident prompted a police response after a frustrated family with a young child unable to access the charger on the hot June day phoned 911.
“These actions appear arrogant, much like the Biden administration’s efforts to ban the internal combustion engine, gas stoves and domestic energy production on federal lands,” Mr. Barrasso wrote in a letter to Ms. Granholm that was provided to The Washington Times.
The Energy Department did not respond to a request for comment.
The dispute was witnessed and reported by NPR, which tagged along for the 770-mile trip from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Memphis, Tennessee. The outing was meant to promote the administration’s green energy agenda and federal funding for new public EV chargers.
The Department of Transportation made available Wednesday $100 million for chargers that are currently not properly operating as part of $5 billion for charging stations under the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act also includes tax credits for new chargers.
The Environmental Protection Agency is proposing a stringent tailpipe emissions rule that would force carmakers to phase out gas-powered vehicles and sell primarily EVs by 2030, prompting pushback from the industry and GOP officials.
NPR reported that prior to Ms. Granholm utilizing a fast charger while passing through a suburb of Augusta, Georgia, an Energy Department staffer sped ahead to use a gas-powered vehicle and block one of the rapid charging ports before her arrival. That led to the family calling the police.
Authorities reportedly were unable to force the staffer to move because it was not against the law for a non-EV to use the spot.
Ms. Granholm’s staffers remedied the tense scenario by sending other EVs to slower chargers until fast-charging spaces were available for the family and the secretary, per NPR.
Mr. Barrasso questioned whether Ms. Granholm requested staffers to block the charger, who was responsible, if they were disciplined and if the secretary apologized to the family.
He also asked the purpose of trying to reserve it, including whether it was to “avoid the embarrassment of missing your next appointment because it takes so long to charge your vehicle?” or “because you felt that as secretary of the Department of Energy you had the right to charge your vehicle without waiting like other unfortunate EV users?”
• Ramsey Touchberry can be reached at rtouchberry@washingtontimes.com.
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