The Irony – and Profits – Inside California’s Green Agenda

Amanda Heckman|September 3, 2022

Well, this is ironic…

Not to mention unsurprising.

Just days after California passed a ban on the sale of new gas-powered cars starting in 2035…

The state got a stark reminder about pushing policy ahead of reality. And investors got a reminder of a big opportunity.

As a heat wave continues to crush the state, officials have told electric car owners not to charge their vehicles… because doing so would put too much strain on the state’s power grid.

Oops.

This is yet another example of, as Andy calls it, “green zealousness with an overload of political idiocy.”

How, exactly, does California plan to power all those shiny new electric cars… when its power grid is a disaster?

It sure seems that years – no, decades – of outages, blackouts and pulling energy from nearby states… has not been enough to make officials think, “Hey, maybe we should fix the grid before we force more machines to depend on it.” (Like electric cars…)

Instead, the state is behind the ball… throwing money wherever it can to push its agenda. From tax credits to huge spending bills, the state is in a race to fix a problem of its own making.

Dollar Signs

For sure, the free market sees the writing on the wall – and the dollar signs. (There’s at least $10 billion in incentives attached to this mandate alone.)

Automakers have jumped on the electric bandwagon, expanding or replacing their lineups with new electric models and electric versions of existing models.

General Motors has a goal of selling only electric vehicles by 2035. Stellantis, the owner of Chrysler, Fiat, Dodge and other brands, intends to introduce 25 new electric models by 2030.

But automakers, too, have concerns about California’s new mandate.

John Bozzella, the president of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents large U.S. and foreign automakers, said that while automakers want to see more electric vehicles on the roads, California’s mandates would be “extremely challenging” to meet.

“Whether or not these requirements are realistic or achievable is directly linked to external factors like inflation, charging and fuel infrastructure, supply chains, labor, critical mineral availability and pricing, and the ongoing semiconductor shortage,” he said.

Again, power is a huge problem here. But that also means it’s a huge opportunity… for investors.

As California pushes its green agenda… the tidal waves will be felt across the U.S. There are at least a dozen states that are likely to follow suit.

That means there will be immense pressure to update power grids from coast to coast. And the utility and infrastructure companies involved stand to benefit…

Companies like… NextEra Energy (NEE), Xcel Energy (XEL) and MasTec (MTZ).

Trillions of dollars will be spent to update our energy infrastructure as our power needs accelerate and transform.

Keep an eye on this sector as green zealousness races ahead of reality.