Michigan files antitrust suit against oil companies, trade group

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(The Center Square) - Large oil companies and their primary trade association worked for decades to block the adoption of renewable energy and electric vehicles, a lawsuit filed by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel alleges.

The suit, filed Friday in federal court against Chevron, Exxon Mobil, Shell, BP and the American Petroleum Institute, alleges violations of state and federal anti-trust laws.

Beginning in approximately 1980, the defendants colluded to forestall competition from renewable energy sources, which now include electric vehicles, to maintain dominance in the transportation market and markets for heating and cooling in Michigan and nationally in order to reap illegal profits, the suit claims.

Michigan residents suffer artificially high home and transportation energy costs, the attorney general said in a statement, with consumers locked into energy markets that rely on dated and expensive technologies. These consumers lack access to renewable, cost-efficient energy sources, the attorney general said.

“Michigan is facing an energy affordability crisis as our home energy costs skyrocket and consumers are left without affordable options for transportation. Whether you own a home, a small business, or run a large corporation, rising energy and transportation costs harm everyone,” Nessel said.

Chevron attorney Theodore J. Boutrous Jr. slammed the lawsuit. “Federal and state courts have dismissed lawsuits seeking climate-related damages in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, and South Carolina. This lawsuit also ignores the fact that Michigan is highly dependent on oil and gas to support the state’s automakers and workers,” Boutrous said in a statement.

American Petroleum Institute attorney Ron Myers said Congress should create energy policy, not the courts. "These baseless lawsuits are a coordinated campaign against an industry that powers everyday life, drives America’s economy, and is actively reducing emissions. We continue to believe that energy policy belongs in Congress, not a patchwork of courtrooms," Myers said.

Michigan is seeking unspecified financial compensation and the forfeit of corporate profits resulting from the alleged conspiracy. The state also requested a court order to permanently halt the oil and gas industry's "anticompetitive conspiracy."

In 1911, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the dissolution of Standard Oil for engaging in widespread anticompetitive actions in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act. The Act was also used in 1982 when AT&T was forced to divest its local telephone operations into seven independent regional companies, then known as "Baby Bells."