Michigan files antitrust suit against oil companies, trade group

(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 sour...