TCI Regional Policy Design Stakeholder Submissions

• AmeriGas Propane employees over 9,000+ people and we are strongly opposed to the "framework for a draft regional policy proposal" which seeks to expropriate the fossil fuel industry. Over time this plan proposes to move Virginia from simple rationing and new taxes to the ultimate prohibition of fossil fuels.
• This plan does not assess the collateral damage it will inflict on state revenue, local tax collections, Virginia's Transportation Trust fund, and consumers.
• Many of the advocates of these policies support regulation to electrify transportation. Those advocates somehow forget to mention that a major component of batteries powering these vehicles is cobalt, 90 percent of which is mined in third world countries under unfavorable working conditions.
• As the number of electric vehicles grows, petroleum marketers will likely have to battle for a share of the electric vehicle charging market with utility companies that see EV charging as a new business opportunity without cost. When utility companies install charging stations, they may seek the ability to include that cost as part of their capital investment. When these costs are approved by governmental regulatory agencies, they can then be passed on to all ratepayers as part of their monthly electric bills.
• AmeriGas believes this would provide regulated utilities an unfair competitive advantage that Virginia based small businesses simply cannot compete with. I must economically justify and self-fund at risk investments in new equipment like EV charging stations and so should my competition.
• Another likely competitor under this scheme is the state government itself. This is not a concept, as just this past session the General Assembly passed legislation to allow the Departments of Conservation and Recreation, General Services, and Transportation to install electric chargers. Fortunately our association was able to narrow this initiative considerably by limiting the number of state agencies involved and mitigating the threat of unfair competition by requiring the state to sell the power at prevailing market rates including taxes.
• As a propane marketer I support a clean environment. There are many ways to achieve this without rationing. Incentivizing the sale of electric vehicles does nothing to meet your stated goals of "equity, environmental justice, and non-discrimination." As one example, the stated goals could be achieved far faster and cheaper via efforts to assist low-income Virginians to purchase more fuel efficient vehicles that meet current and future CAFÉ standards.
• History has proven that rationing followed by prohibition - the ultimate goal of TCI - has led to black markets, unregulated and untaxed sales, and undue burdens on law enforcement.
• The impact of these proposals will not be solely on propane businesses such as mine - what about the auto repair industry, muffler shops, service facilities at new car dealers, quick lubes etc.? What about agriculture, construction and watermen who will be forced to scrap present equipment or pay artificially high prices due to rationing? What about the consumer who will experience not only higher prices to operate their personal vehicles, but higher prices for consumer goods and services?
• AmeriGas opposes the TCI plan to ration, tax and ultimately eliminate fossil fuels.

Instead of this complicated process, I would rather just see a nominal increase to the tax on gasoline and use that money to create better, more efficient transportation networks.

I believe this the another excuse to raise the taxes. We already have too many taxes. Its going to effective businesses, jobs, oil industries, and revenues . I am totally against this.
The claims for a positive environmental impact have not been proven. This proposal places the burden of new taxes in a disproportionate way onto the poor and rural communities.

we do not want it. it will have major effect on small business owners, employees and over economy.

We need aggressive emissions reductions both to stop the warming of our planet, and to improve public health. Our air quality in Pennsylvania is horrible, and children suffer from high rates of asthma and other disorders as a result. Transit also reduces congestion and travel time. Please invest in this tremendous public good.

No new taxes, may I quote Edward Gibbon ,CORRUPTION, THE MOST INFALLIBLE SYMPTOM OF constitutional LIBERTY! THE LOT OF U NEED TO BE EXCISED LIKE A CANCER, I WE SPREAD THE WORD!!

As much as I believe in doing what’s right for the environment, I am not in favor of any type of automatic tax with a non voting tax increase. I am not in favor of this program and do not support it.

We need more accessible and affordable mass transportation for the human right of breathing clean air.