Legislators hit the ground running this week as they returned from their Easter break. With the May 8 crossover deadline looming, bills were passed by committees and chambers with very little examination – just the promise of "careful deliberation" or “it will get fixed” in the next chamber, which can result in very lopsided recorded votes on issues that will be contentious once the real debates begin.
Some bills we’ve been fighting are facing more opposition, thanks to constituent calls and emails flooding legislators' offices and intensified lobbying by the N.C. Sierra Club and our environmental advocacy partners.
Our fight against S261, Energy Security and Affordability Act, has spread to two fronts. The bill itself was fast-tracked by the Senate but stalled out in the House Rules Committee. However, it's now popped up in another vehicle: S261's full language was included in the Senate's budget proposal, buried more than halfway down the massive document. The Senate sped its budget proposal to passage before the break, but fortunately it, too, faces resistance in the House.
We've been running text and phone call campaigns to key lawmakers, getting constituents to protest this attempt to foist power plant construction costs ("construction work in progress," or CWIP) onto captive ratepayers, as well as let Duke Energy bail on its promise to cut carbon emissions by 2030. If you've contacted your lawmakers, thank you! We'll have a fresh email campaign soon, too – stay tuned for an update on that.
Other bad bills on our radar:
- H729, Farmland Protection Act, which eliminates the property tax break on large-scale solar equipment on idle farmland, providing a reliable passive income stream for farmers and renewable energy for utilities. This bill is the top priority of the NC Association of County Commissioners, who claim the lost property tax revenue is costing some of North Carolina’s poorest counties $1 million per year. North Carolina has been a leader in solar development, but the industry may have to virtually abandon the state if it loses the tax credit, which makes the business profitable. H729 passed the House Agriculture Committee and was referred to the House Public Utilities Committee.
- H605, Definitions for Advanced Recycling, passed the House on a split vote. This technical bill lowers the defined standard of “recycling” to include the use of plastics that are "recycled" by incinerating used plastics back into petroleum that can be made into new plastics. The byproduct of the fumes from this process are of particular concern.
- S730, Expand CEPS / Nuclear and Hydro, would undermine the state's longstanding bipartisan effort to increase investment, opportunity and energy innovation. The bill would expand the state's Clean Energy and Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard (CEPS) to include existing, operating nuclear and hydroelectric power facilities. This would negate the General Assembly's 2007 legislation that sought to develop clean energy by adding NEW resources.
On a positive note, our support of H570, Responsible Firefighting Foam Management Act, propelled the bill through the House with a unanimous floor vote. Now the battle begins: The House has passed similar measures in the past, only to see them stall in the Senate. We'll keep you posted on ways to help us push this through.
Take action:
Keep an eye on your email and our social media for links to two action alerts that we plan to launch next week:
- An updated email campaign opposing S261, the CWIP bill, that highlights its inclusion in the Senate budget proposal and notes that it could pop up in other legislation. We'll ask House members to be vigilant to new attempts to slip the bill language through and to oppose it wherever it appears.
- A new campaign targeting H402, NC REINS Act, the bill that would send agency rulemaking into chaos. The legislation has been softened a bit (eliminating General Assembly final approval on state agency regulations), but still requires extra steps for implementation of rules that have a statewide fiscal impact of $1 million.