Statement by NC WARN director Jim Warren:
By setting a $98 million bond in today’s order, the Utilities Commission again has wrongly attempted to block our access to the courthouse – and shield itself and Duke Energy from scrutiny over the approval of a new $1 billion power plant in Asheville that is unneeded, would rely on a shaky supply of shale gas, and would further speed the climate crisis.
There is no precedent for requiring a bond to appeal a project when the appellant hasn’t asked to stop construction.
Duke Energy and the commission seem desperate to avoid having an open, careful debate with the three prominent experts NC WARN and The Climate Times tried to bring into this case.
We’ll be asking the NC Court of Appeals to again reverse the commission’s bond order and allow our full appeal of Duke’s climate-wrecking, fracking gas power plant to go forward.
