NATSO and SIGMA call on Congress to stabilize alternative energy markets

In Washington, NATSO, representing America’s travel centers, truck stops and transportation energy retailers, and SIGMA: America’s Leading Fuel Marketers, testified before Congress Wednesday on the critical role that the nation’s fuel retailers play in facilitating the efficient movement of goods and energy throughout the United States. 

Testifying before the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, NATSO and SIGMA Executive Vice President of Government Affairs David Fialkov said bolstering the nation’s supply chain requires an efficient fuel distribution system that ensures plentiful fuel supplies at competitive prices for consumers.

NATSO and SIGMA underscored the need for market reforms that allow businesses to profitably invest in electric vehicle charging stations. The existing refueling network represents the fastest, most efficient way to build out a nationwide network of EV charging stations, a fact underscored by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Rural Electric Vehicle (EV) Infrastructure Toolkit touting truck stops and travel plazas as a partnership success story. 

EV charging grant programs, including the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Program, should encourage states to reexamine arcane regulations that are incompatible with today’s need for public EV charging transactions. NATSO and SIGMA also urged Congress to encourage the Department of Transportation to flexibly interpret the recent Buy America regulations.

NATSO and SIGMA also highlighted the market challenges created by preferential treatment for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) over renewable diesel and biodiesel, which power commercial trucks. Preferential tax treatment for SAF will encourage producers to make SAF rather than the longstanding renewable fuels already used in ground transportation, shortening diesel supply and increasing the cost of all goods moved by truck. Consumers ultimately will be forced to pay more for fewer environmental benefits as emission reductions are transferred away from trucking to the aviation sector. 

The biodiesel blenders’ tax credit has worked successfully to build a robust biodiesel and renewable diesel industry in the United States, enhancing the supply of transportation energy for commercial trucks while limiting U.S. exposure to global petroleum markets and improving the transportation sector’s emissions footprint.