NC WARN today began running a hard-hitting TV and online ad in all major media markets across North Carolina. The goal is to counter Duke executives’ pervasive deception by going straight to people across the political spectrum.
The message is concise: Duke Energy has abused its monopoly privilege and violated the trust of the people of this state.
See the 15-second video.
The ad cites only a few of the most egregious actions by Duke Energy executives, including:
- Coal ash negligence that keeps harming many people’s health and power bills.
- Duke’s vast expansion of climate-wrecking fracked gas is increasing the destructive power of hurricanes such as Florence and Michael – because Duke executives refuse to capture the unburned methane emissions that make “natural” gas even worse for the climate than coal.
- One rate hike after another. Duke plans perpetual rate hikes to build unneeded power plants.
- 80 million customer dollars spent each year for political and civic influence to keep it all going – and to block clean energy competition.
Dramatic advances and rapidly declining prices in battery storage technologies are game changers in the global electricity business this year. There are no technical or economic reasons that North Carolina cannot replace all coal- and gas-fired power generation even more rapidly than was projected in 2017’s North Carolina Clean Path 2025, an implementable strategy laid out by NC WARN.
Now, with the stakes higher than ever due to the extreme gravity of the climate crisis – and with rapid, hopeful advances in cheaper, clean energy technologies, Duke Energy’s monopoly capture of customers and public officials must end.