About three dozen people quietly gathered in the drizzling rain outside Duke Energy’s St. Petersburg headquarters for the inaugural effort of the group Floridians for Fair Rates, an organization led by Steyer’s political group NextGen Climate.
Duke Energy & State Regulators
NC WARN regularly challenges Duke Energy to make a rapid transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy and energy efficiency. We intervene at the NC Utilities Commission in cases involving Duke’s rate increases and 15-year Integrated Resource Plans (IRPs). And we have repeatedly reached out directly to the corporation’s executives, seeking to collaborate with them on finding ways to avert climate catastrophe. A few examples are listed here.
Related:
- Check out the new coalition: Energy Justice NC: End the Duke Monopoly
- Duke Energy page on Energy & Policy Institute website
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Electricity Customers Penalized by Duke-Progress Deposit Practices — News Release from NC WARN
North Carolina regulators should follow the lead of other states in prohibiting electric utilities from requiring up-front deposits from new customers.
UTILITIES: Is Duke Energy following its home state’s turn to the right? — Greenwire
Jim Warren, executive director of the advocacy group NC WARN, said he sympathizes with Rogers’ push for a greener future but adds that North Carolina, where Duke is still dominated by fossil fuels, has little to show for his efforts. Duke is currently 41 percent coal, 33 percent nuclear, 24 percent gas, and 2 percent hydropower and solar energy.
Many regulators charged with answering that question have ties to utility industry — INDY Week
Duke Energy customers will likely pay most of the cost to clean up the utility’s 14 coal ash ponds in North Carolina. That means electric rates would increase to cover the $2 billion to $10 billion price tag.
Duke Energy critics speak out during public hearing — ABC 11
State law requires Duke Energy to rely more on renewable energy sources in the near future. Environmentalists said, instead of moving in that direction, Duke is polluting the environment and passing the costs off to consumers.
NC WARN Presses Alternate Plan for NC Energy Future: 2014 Update — News Release from NC WARN
In response to Duke Energy’s 2012 IRP, NC WARN created an alternative: A Responsible Energy Future for North Carolina. We have just released an adjusted proposal to reflect the flat demand predicted by Jim Rogers and others, along with a greater adoption of renewable energy, energy efficiency and combined heat and power.
Strange Bedfellows
NC WARN and the conservative John Locke Foundation agree that increased competition in the North Carolina electricity market would help customers benefit from the rapid changes occurring in the U.S. electricity marketplace. The groups are sponsoring two public forums.
Read more and watch videos of the forums.
Read our news release about the collaboration.
Read the Locke Foundation news release.
NC WARN and John Locke on The State of Things
Read an op-ed by the two groups in the News & Observer
Critics question whether Duke-Progress merger really saved consumers money — WNCN
Attorney John Runkle asks, “Where are the savings for consumers? The merger was billed as a better deal for North Carolina consumers. Duke has gone up in rates in 2009, 2011 and then last year…Progress had their first rate case in over 20 years, so the rates are going up.” Runkle represents the energy watchdog group NC WARN, which is still in the process of appealing the merger.
Natural gas fuels Duke Energy’s 15-year plan — Charlotte Business Journal
Duke Energy Corp. customers in the Carolinas looking for relief from rate hikes are likely to be disappointed over the next several years. That is particularly true for customers at Duke Energy Progress, which forecasts the need for as many as five new natural gas plants between now and 2022.
NC WARN Takes Duke Rate Hike to NC Supreme Court — News Release from NC WARN
NC WARN is challenging Duke Energy’s monopoly control over North Carolina electricity customers by appealing a highly controversial rate hike to the NC Supreme Court.