DEQ issues record fine to electric charging company for claiming fraudulent credits
The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality has issued a $2.7 million fine, the largest in its history, to a Lincoln City electric vehicle charging company it says sold fraudulent credits through DEQ’s Clean Fuels Program.
In June, Thompson Technical Services, which goes by TTS Charging, illegitimately claimed 16,089 Clean Fuel Program credits for operating three electric vehicle charging stations in Sheridan, the department said in a news release Friday.
At the time the company claimed and sold the credits, the three charging stations had not been installed and had not dispensed any electricity to vehicles.
TTS Charging then sold most of those credits to Elbow River Marketing for nearly $1.8 million.
“This is an egregious violation of a program that is designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to climate change,” Leah Feldon, interim director of DEQ, said. “The Clean Fuels Program has been highly successful, but selling fraudulent credits seriously undermines the program’s environmental benefits. This penalty is intended to encourage the violator to return legitimate credits to the market and should serve as a deterrent to anyone considering similar fraudulent behavior.”
TTS was incorporated in December 2020, according to Oregon Secretary of State records. Its corporate filing lists Merlin Thompson, 52, of Lincoln City, as a member, and James Thompson, 25, of Keizer, as manager.
The Clean Fuels Program, which has been in place since 2016, provides incentives to companies that develop transportation fuels with lower carbon intensity, such as electricity or biofuels. The incentives come in the form of credits that can be sold to other companies as a way to comply with state rules requiring reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
The $2,723,895 penalty surpasses DEQ’s $2.1 million enforcement action last year against Portland’s Herbert Malarkey Roofing for air quality violations.
DEQ has revoked TTS’s account with the Oregon Fuels Reporting System and invalidated the 89 illegitimate credits remaining in its account. It also will require TTS to purchase legitimate credits to replace the 16,000 credits transferred to Elbow River.
The company has 20 days to appeal the penalty.
Tracy Loew covers the environment at the Statesman Journal. Send comments, questions and tips to tloew@statesmanjournal.com, 503-399-6779. Follow her on Twitter at @Tracy_Loew
This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: DEQ issues record fine to electric charging company
