Running out of juice: No special session to adopt California EV regulations.

Governor Ned Lamont and Democratic legislative leaders will not call lawmakers into special session to adopt California regulations that will begin to restrict the purchase and sale of internal combustion engines in Connecticut. The decision comes two months after the administration withdrew the regulations before a vote of the bipartisan Regulations Review Committee that was set to reject the sweeping new rules.

The decision is another blow to the reputation of Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Commissioner Katie Dykes, who is notably unpopular with legislators, both leaders and members of the rank and file in each party.

Many legislators are said to be reluctant to vote to begin an election year by beginning to narrow consumer choices as their first act.

The news of the retreat by the Lamont administration comes in the same week the president of Toyota, the world’s biggest carmaker, predicted EVs will never account for more than a third of motor vehicle sales.

Eversource, the state’s largest utility, has warned Connecticut’s electricity grid cannot provide power to a significant increase in electric vehicles, many of which will have to be powered at private residences.

Published January 25, 2024.