The Chapel Hill-based nonprofit EMPOWERment, Inc. is filing a consumer complaint against Duke Energy, which alleges the energy provider is refusing to provide electrical services to the Pine Knoll EMPOWERment Affordable Housing (P.E.A.C.H.) apartments.
The P.E.A.C.H. facility, which is intended to serve Orange County residents earning at or below 30 percent of the area’s median income, held a ribbon-cutting in April. The ten-unit building — which was built for $3.5 million and constructed debt-free — is located at 107 Johnson Street in the Pine Knoll neighborhood of Chapel Hill, a historically African-American community southwest of downtown. The building was outfitted with rooftop solar panels, a move intended to reduce the cost of living for tenants while using sustainable energy.
EMPOWERment elected to install a single electrical meter for the entire building, rather than an individual meter for all 10 units. However, according to a statement from the nonprofit, Duke Energy said in February it would not provide service with the single-meter configuration. Rewiring the facility with 10 meters to comply with Duke Energy’s request would incur “major costs and months of delay,” according to EMPOWERment’s press release about the complaint. But in the meantime, the complex has no power.
“We’ve tried to resolve this conflict, but we have no choice other than file this complaint so our tenants can have affordable housing,” said EMPOWERment Executive Director Delores Bailey. “Our building is at risk and ten families in our community are struggling with housing when they shouldn’t have to be.”
“Ten families — many experiencing hidden homelessness — are left in limbo, forced to juggle temporary arrangements,” read EMPOWERment’s statement, “while a brand-new building sits empty, at risk of catastrophic damage from mold and mildew because Duke Energy refuses to provide service.”
The Southern Environmental Law Center is representing EMPOWERment in the complaint, which was filed at the North Carolina Utilities Commission.
“This came about because people who are already doing some of the most valuable community-building work out there found a way to use solar energy to lower the cost of living for our low-income neighbors,” said Nick Jimenez, senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center. “Using solar energy to lower the cost of living to help neighbors who need it is about the best use of solar I can think of. EMPOWERment is absolutely within its rights here and it deserves electric service immediately.”
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