A coalition of the country’s largest utilities last week urged Congress to maintain an electric vehicle tax credit and remove the cap that limits the benefit to the first 200,000 manufactured vehicles.

In a March 13 letter to congressional leaders, the 36 energy companies asked Congress to maintain the EV tax credit in its fiscal year 2018 omnibus spending legislation and eliminate the existing cap in order to accelerate the adoption of EVs and “boost our economic and national security.”

“First-mover companies — all American manufacturers — are all likely to hit the existing 200,000 vehicle-per-manufacturer cap this year, just as a new generation of affordable, state-of-the art EVs hits the market,” the letter says. “These automakers created thousands of American EV jobs by making early investments in EV research and development, manufacturing capacity and charging infrastructure.”

Signatories to the letter include American Electric Power, Consolidated Edison, Duke Energy, Edison International, Florida Power & Light, Long Island Power Authority, National Grid, NV Energy, Pacific Gas and Electric, Public Service Enterprise Group, Seattle City Light and National Grid.

The utilities said they “look forward” to a time when EVs can support grid resources, help integrate intermittent renewable generation and provide demand response. Eliminating the cap would provide certainty to automakers and consumers, and support jobs, the utilities said.

Section 30D of the Internal Revenue Service code provides a credit of up to $7,500 for EVs. It was originally included in the Energy Improvement and Extension Act of 2008 and was amended in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The credit begins to phase out when at least 200,000 EVs have been sold for use in the U.S.

— Jason Fordney