A new study by Business Forward says electric costs will go up only slightly for auto manufacturers as a result of proposed EPA regulations on utilities.
And those costs pale in comparison to the financial impact from climate change.
Jim Doyle is president of the trade group. He says storms are a huge expense for auto plants, which have to shut down if a supplier can't ship parts due to weather.
And climate scientists say global warming is increasing the frequency and severity of major storms.
"If the plant shuts down, it costs that plant about $1.25 million an hour," says Doyle.
That plant's annual electric bill, by comparison, would go up by about a million dollars annually due to the EPA's proposed regulations on utilities.
Doyle says such an increase would add only about $7 to the price of an average car.
"The increases in the rate that the EPA is talking about will have a minute impact on most manufacturers' bottom line," he says.
And that increase is highly unlikely to drive auto manufacturers out of the country, as some who oppose the EPA rules claim.
