NC WARN is challenging Duke Energy’s monopoly control over North Carolina electricity customers and calling on regulators to reject a controversial rate hike request.
State Holds Hearing To Consider Duke Energy Efficiency Policy — WUNC
State regulators are considering a plan to allow Duke Energy to charge customers a little more as it increases energy efficiency. A group of non-profits at the hearing, including NC WARN, said Duke should invest more in community-based efforts to weatherize homes and reduce monthly power bills without raising rates.
Appeals Court Weighs Merger of Duke Energy, Progress Energy — News Release from NC WARN
Will Duke’s Upcoming Solar Power Plan be Good for North Carolinians or Drive Rates Even Higher? — News Release from NC WARN
When might NC WARN – a vigorous promoter of solar power for many years – NOT support a plan to add solar to North Carolina rooftops? Answer: If Duke Energy’s upcoming solar proposal, previewed in April and due to be filed any day, is used cynically to mask – and amplify – its plans to keep building nuclear and fracking-gas plants, and to keep its coal giants running for decades.
Harris Plant operating at reduced capacity following equipment malfunction — WNCN
Clean Power and Housing Advocates Seek Energy-Saving for Those Who Need it Most — News Release from NC WARN
How Duke fleeced Florida customers for $1.5 billion — WTSP News 10 (Tampa)
On Thursday, Duke Energy Florida (formerly Progress Energy) announced that the company would pull the plug on its future Levy Co. nuclear plant. And the money the company has been collecting from customers for years — and will continue to collect until 2018 — will go toward Duke Energy’s expenses and profits.
Gangplank to a Warm Future — The New York Times
Op-Ed by Anthony Ingraffea. Many concerned about climate change, including President Obama, have embraced hydraulic fracturing for natural gas. In his recent climate speech, the president went so far as to lump gas with renewables as “clean energy.” As a longtime oil and gas engineer who helped develop shale fracking techniques for the Energy Department, I can assure you that this gas is not “clean.” Because of leaks of methane, the main component of natural gas, the gas extracted from shale deposits is not a “bridge” to a renewable energy future — it’s a gangplank to more warming and away from clean energy investments.
On Rooftops, a Rival for Utilities — The New York Times
For years, power companies have watched warily as solar panels have sprouted across the nation’s rooftops. Now, in almost panicked tones, they are fighting hard to slow the spread. Alarmed by what they say has become an existential threat to their business, utility companies are moving to roll back government incentives aimed at promoting solar energy and other renewable sources of power. At stake, the companies say, is nothing less than the future of the American electricity industry.
New Tax Hike on Electricity Should Lower Duke Energy’s Proposed Increase — News Release from NC WARN
Today, as part of the ongoing fight over a 5-6 percent average rate hike proposed by Duke Energy, NC WARN filed a motion calling for the NC Utilities Commission to consider the impacts of a new tax increase on electricity sales. The Tax Simplification and Reduction Act, signed into law on Tuesday, contains an electricity sales tax hike that represents the fourth sizeable increase on Duke customers in just four years.