A US federal judge dismissed Michigan's antitrust lawsuit accusing major oil companies of colluding to suppress renewable energy and electric vehicles, ruling the alleged market connection as too distant to grant monetary relief, several media outlets reported on Tuesday.
Judge Jane Beckering for the Court for the Western District of Michigan ruled against the state's allegations that petroleum giants colluded to suppress competition from renewable primary energy technologies and electric vehicles.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel had argued that the corporate defendants operated an unlawful conspiracy to protect fossil fuel market dominance, which artificially inflated consumer costs, according to the reports.
Meanwhile, major oil companies including BP (BP), Chevron (CVX), Exxon Mobil (XOM), and Shell (SHEL) continue to successfully defend against a wave of multi-state lawsuits attempting to pin historical climate and transition costs onto traditional energy producers, the reports added.
Judge Beckering said that the distance between the alleged market conspiracy and direct retail overcharges was too attenuated to establish legal proximate cause, as per the reports.
None of the energy majors involved in the lawsuit or Michigan attorney general's office responded immediately to' request for comments.