By Lisa Sorg
The sun has risen and set nearly 1,100 times since NC WARN installed a small solar power system on the roof of Faith Community Church in Greensboro. And since that time in May 2015, the Durham-based environmental nonprofit has been fined $60,000 by the NC Utilities Commission — the penalty was later rescinded — and has taken its case to the Court of Appeals, which ruled 2–1 against NC WARN. The group appealed and today argued before the state’s highest court that it should be allowed to provide solar energy to the church.
Typical of high-level legal battles, the oral arguments dove deep into the semantical weeds: What defines “public”?
Is NC WARN “selling” the electricity — verboten under North Carolina law? Is it legally “leasing” the system, or operating in regulatory limbo under a “unique” finance agreement?
Three years ago, NC WARN installed the 5.25-kilowatt system as part of a power purchase agreement in which the church pays 5 cents a kilowatt hour for solar-generated electricity. NC WARN has discontinued the agreement and has provided no power until the court case is settled.
All along, NC WARN has contended that this is a finance agreement, a private contract that should not be meddled with by the utilities commission. “This case is about overregulation,” said Matthew Quinn, attorney for NC WARN. “Is the function of [this agreement] to sell power or to help Faith Community Church put a solar system on its roof?”
NC WARN contends it’s the latter. Judge Robin Hudson seemed unconvinced. Reading from the Power Purchase Agreement, she noted that the church “will purchase electricity” from NC WARN. “Are we supposed to read this as not selling electricity?” she asked Quinn.
