A Duke Energy coal fired power plant near Roxboro, NC (Photo: Courtesy of the Southern Environmental Law Center)
The North Carolina Senate Rules Committee voted on Wednesday in support of a controversial bill that would lift Duke Energy’s requirements to meet a carbon reduction deadline, sending it to the floor.
More than a dozen Republican lawmakers, including Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) and Senate Majority Leader Paul Newton (R-Cabarrus), introduced Senate Bill 261 — the “Energy Security and Affordability Act” on Monday.
The legislation passed through the Senate Agriculture, Energy, and Environment Committee on Tuesday, despite pleas from Democratic lawmakers that the measure be delayed until it could receive a more thorough vetting and lawmakers could hear more from environmental advocates.
Newton, a retired Duke Energy executive, presented the bill to both panels.
“The interim goal, which is an arbitrary goal, it doesn’t improve the climate whatsoever, but it just sort of it drives behavior near term,” Newton said.
Under current state law — due to a bipartisan measure from 2021 — there are two deadlines for Duke Energy to meet specific carbon dioxide emission standards. The utility company must reduce emissions by 70% of 2005 levels by 2030 and reach carbon neutrality by 2050.
Newton’s bill would remove the “arbitrary” first deadline, meaning Duke Energy would not need to meet the 70% cut by any deadline. The carbon neutrality deadline for 2050 would still stand. Newton told colleagues that modeling suggested that ratepayers could save $13 billion by removing the interim carbon reduction goal for Duke.
While representatives from Duke Energy did not speak at Wednesday’s hearing, the bill won the support of both ElectriCities of North Carolina and North Carolina’s Electric Cooperatives.
“We believe that removal of the interim goal will help public power to provide our communities and our customers with more affordable and more reliable electric power,” said Jay Morrison, chief legal officer for ElectriCities.
Mark Swallow from Democracy Out Loud said the bill fails to take into account global warming and ever-increasing temperatures that lead to a greater demand for electricity.
“I want my children, grandchildren, who live in an environment in North Carolina and be able to thrive here,” Swallow said. “It’s not going to happen if the climate keeps warming.”
Other environmental advocacy groups argued the measure simply benefits Duke Energy’s shareholders at the expense of its customers.
“North Carolina families deserve better than having their energy bills raised for big power plants without customer protections and without proper scrutiny from the utilities commission,” said David Neal, senior attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center. “The last thing we need is to force customers of the monopoly utility to finance more carbon polluting projects when we are already suffering from climate-fueled disasters like Hurricane Helene.”
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