Granholm blames ‘poor judgment’ after staff blocked off EV charger for her

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm blamed “poor judgment” after a report that a staffer parked a non-electric vehicle by an electric vehicle charger to reserve it for her amid limited availability.

NPR reported this week that the staffer parked a non-electric car in front of the charger to block it off for Granholm during a recent southeast trip to promote the money the administration is putting into climate solutions. 

One family that was not able to access the charger during this time called the police, though the action is not illegal in Georgia, where the incident occurred, NPR reported.

Asked about the incident during a House hearing on Thursday, Granholm said: “It was poor judgment on the part of the team.”

“I can only imagine they wanted to continue moving, but the bottom line is it’s not going to happen again,” she added in response to questions from Rep. Scott Franklin (R-Fla.).

Since the NPR report was published, some Republicans have cited the incident in their pushback to the Biden administration’s policies to support electric vehicles. 

In a recent letter to Granholm, Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) questioned whether the charger was blocked off so the secretary could charge “without having to wait like other unfortunate EV users.”