Melissa Williams, melissa.williams@sierraclub.org
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — As Duke Energy continues its push to raise customers’ bills to pay for its coal ash cleanup and to pad its bottom line, Sierra Club has launched a two-week digital ad buy in Raleigh and Charlotte to shine a light on the utility’s greed.
Duke Energy wants to charge customers an extra $6 per month—before they even flip a switch—even after they recently doubled CEO Lynn Good’s pay to $21 million.
A Duke official suggested the increase wouldn’t make a difference for lower income customers, since it was only the cost of “one extra Big Mac, fries and a drink” a month.
Ratepayers have already been paying a high cost for Duke’s mess: toxic pollution in our waterways and drinking water, which has been threatening our communities’ health and wellbeing. It's time for Duke to be held responsible for its mistakes.
"While an electric bill increase of $6 might not seem like a lot for Duke's well-compensated officials, some people will be forced to choose between having heat or eating dinner,” said Dave Rogers, representative for the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign in North Carolina.
“Once again Duke is showing just how out of touch they are with their customers, who have been demanding cleaner, cheaper energy like solar power for years. Duke needs to stop figuring out new ways to jack up their customers’ rates, and start working to deliver the cleaner, cheaper energy we deserve.”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3 million members and supporters. In addition to helping people from all backgrounds explore nature and our outdoor heritage, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.