A bill being fast-tracked through the N.C. General Assembly threatens permanent harm to the environment and communities in North Carolina and beyond by allowing Duke Energy to soften its promised carbon-cutting goals.
Just four years ago the utility negotiated bipartisan legislation that allowed it more latitude in raising rates in return for cutting carbon emissions by 70% by 2030 – a goal the new bill abandons entirely – and achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.
Senate Bill 261, currently being fast-tracked through the legislative process by its majority leadership sponsors, drops those targets. It would also allow utilities to charge homeowners and other ratepayers for new nuclear and natural gas plants while they're under construction. That means customers could be left holding the bill for any construction delays and failed projects, as when South Carolina ratepayers were left footing the bill for the $9 billion V.C. Summer nuclear project that was never built.
"Duke Energy agreed four years ago to carbon-reduction goals in exchange for an easier path to rate increases. It's taken full advantage of the smoother rate-setting process, but now wants to renege on its end of the deal," said Chris Herndon, director of the Sierra Club's North Carolina Chapter.
"The notion that this bill is the only way to control rates is grossly misleading, if not insulting, to North Carolinians," Herndon said. "It's a lousy deal for Duke's customers and for all of us, our families and our communities who will suffer the permanent environmental fallout of Duke's disregard for our planet and our lives."
Since President Trump’s election, Duke Energy has signaled that it could burn more coal and coordinated a utility letter to the Environmental Protection Agency asking it to weaken several public health and environmental safeguards.
Read a news release about S261 from the Southern Environmental Law Center, which represents Sierra Club and other intervenors in pending carbon plan proceedings.