This summer, NC WARN hosted its inaugural Youth Summer Series—done virtually due to COVID-19—as an endeavor to bolster local climate youth activism engagement, both in NC WARN campaigns and for the students’ own skill-building and education of climate justice.
Duke Energy Asks Regulators To Let it Charge Customers For Coal Ash Costs — WFAE
Rita Leadem with the environmental group NC Warn said many of the grid upgrades are unnecessary and that Duke should invest more in solar energy. “The smarter investment at this time would really be in the clean energy resources, backed up with battery storage, that would provide the resiliency that we need and really pave the way forward,” she said.
Persistent Opposition to Duke Energy’s Rate Hikes as Hearings Approach — News Release from NC WARN
As a long-awaited hearing begins next Monday, attorneys for NC WARN and allies will firmly oppose Duke Energy’s request for yet another electricity rate hike even as the Utilities Commission’s Public Staff and other parties recently announced settlements with Duke on portions of the rate request.
See coverage by WFAE
Environmental groups ask NC regulators to rule Duke Energy coal-to-gas plant conversions are illegal — Charlotte Business Journal
A coalition of environmental groups have petitioned N.C. regulators to rule Duke Energy and other utilities must get regulatory approval before modifying coal plants to burn natural gas. Jim Warren, executive director of the Durham-based watchdog group NC WARN, which is one of the petitioners, says it appears Duke is “spending millions on Band-Aids for coal plants instead of retiring them.”
INSTITUTE INDEX: The ongoing toxic threat from canceled and delayed gas pipelines — Facing South
While Dominion Energy and Duke Energy recently canceled the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) that had been planned to carry fracked gas from West Virginia to Virginia and North Carolina, number of large epoxy-coated steel pipes for the project that remain stored improperly outside, posing immediate toxic risks to nearby communities and increasing the risk of explosion if the pipes are eventually used elsewhere: 80,000
The End of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline — The Appalachian Voice
In a monumental victory for impacted communities, lead developers Duke Energy and Dominion Energy put an end to the Atlantic Coast Pipeline on July 5, citing ballooning costs and increasing legal uncertainty. At time of death, the 600-mile proposed pipeline was nearly $3 billion over budget, three years behind schedule and lacked eight required permits.
Toxic Legacy of Atlantic Coast Pipeline Requires State Investigation — News Release from NC WARN
The Atlantic Coast Pipeline was cancelled last week, but 80,000 large steel pipes have been stored improperly for over four years, posing an immediate risk of toxic air and water exposures to multiple communities and increasing the risk of a catastrophic gas explosion if the pipes are used at another project. That’s according to a report by a career state regulator being filed today with NC Department of Environmental Quality secretary Michael Regan.
Here’s what you need to know about the Atlantic Coast Pipeline cancellation — The Daily Tar Heel
Atlantic Coast Pipeline’s demise won’t halt natural gas — The Enterprise
The proposed natural gas pipeline through eastern North Carolina is dead. Long live natural gas! Admittedly, there won’t be a coronation ceremony like there would be if a living monarch were replacing a deceased one.But when it comes to reliable, affordable and environmentally friendly ways to power a 21st-century economy, natural gas is still king. Its reign will continue for many decades, despite the successful effort by left-wing activists to litigate the Atlantic Coast Pipeline to death.
Is proposed pipeline through Triad in trouble? — Winston-Salem Journal
Critics of a proposed natural gas pipeline through the Triad’s eastern perimeter say it could meet an end similar to the recently scrapped Atlantic Coast Pipeline. The same economic and societal forces that doomed the so-called ACP could affect the proposed MVP Southgate pipeline in Rockingham and Alamance counties, they believe.