In 2015, Duke Energy’s state-sanctioned monopoly in North Carolina faced a pair of very different challenges from two vastly different communities. In western North Carolina, thousands of people – mostly White, middle-class, with little organizing experience–turned out in droves to attack Duke Energy’s plans for their beloved mountains. Two hundred miles away in Greensboro, a Piedmont church – serving a mostly Black, low-income community with a history of activism and advocacy stretching back decades – simply put solar panels on its roof.
Duke/Kochs' Control of Government
Duke Energy and others in the energy industry consistently use deceptive public relations – and millions of customer dollars – to distort the debate over important decisions. Duke’s control over NC state government is significant. We must face this “inconvenient truth” in order to make the shift to clean, safe energy. This corporate influence has, in the words of Dr. James Hansen, wounded our democracy.
Particularly egregious are efforts by Duke, the Koch brothers and other industry powers to slow the growth of solar energy and, in North Carolina, to prevent competition from third-party providers of no-upfront-cost solar deals that put solar energy within reach of many more homeowners and businesses. Another good example of corporate power is the passage in some states of Construction Work in Progress laws that allow utilities to charge customers in advance for building expensive new plants that aren’t even needed.
In 2015, Duke Energy, the Koch Brothers and others successfully kept the Energy Freedom bill bottled up in committee at the NC legislature. The bill would have opened up NC to third-party solar deals. Read about our 2015 Duke Hates Solar campaign in support of the bill.
Read about our Solar Freedom project at Faith Community Church in Greensboro — a test case in the state’s ban on third-party sales of electricity.
Direct Appeals for Dialogue with Duke Energy
NC WARN has repeatedly reached out to Duke Energy executives, seeking to collaborate with them on moving away from obstructionism and toward a clean energy future. A few examples are listed here.
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Enormous Stakes — The News & Observer
Letter to the Editor by Jim Warren. We’re asking the NC Court of Appeals to require an open, careful debate over Duke’s project. If Duke Energy is so uncertain about its case for the plant, its shareholders should bear any risks of proceeding with construction. And we’ll continue speaking out when state officials favor Duke Energy instead of the public interest.
Court Appeal of Church-Solar Test Case Ruling & Penalty Underway — News Release from NC WARN
Order, Penalty in Solar-Church Test Case vs Duke Energy — News Release from NC WARN
Battle Over Solar Energy’s Future In North Carolina Heats Up As Bipartisan Bills and Civil Protests Mount Against Duke Energy’s Obstructionism — DeSmog Blog
While Szoka has tried to free North Carolina from utility monopolies via legislation, environmental nonprofits have tried to affect change through activism. Seeking a clarification to state law on third-party financing, NC WARN installed solar panels on the roof of Faith Community Church in Greensboro, selling the electricity to the church at a rate much lower than Duke Energy would charge.
McCrory’s wining, dining of Duke — Letter to the N&O
Carole W. Troxler: Duke’s warning — The News & Observer
This is no light matter for Duke Energy, which may explain its willingness to play Goliath with NC WARN’s David. The “people power” group urges efficiency and clean energy. It pushes Duke to generate renewable energy and scoffs at the company’s projection of 4 percent solar power within 15 years.
We at NC WARN sincerely appreciate Carole Troxler sharing her words, and in a variety of papers across the state.
Church-Solar Test Case Draws Broad Support — News Release from NC WARN
Duke Energy seeks massive penalty against NC WARN, but the Christian Coalition and other faith and conservation groups join the state and national solar industry to seek an end to monopoly control of rooftop.
Church Fights Duke Energy for 3rd Party Solar — ABC 11 News [includes video]
Duke Energy Seeks $120,000 Sanction against Critics in Church-Solar Test Case — News Release from NC WARN
As a legal battle begins over whether only Duke Energy can sell electricity in its captive territories, the nation’s largest electric corporation is calling for massive financial punishment of its long-time critic, nonprofit NC WARN, for selling solar power to a community church in Greensboro.
Duke Energy wants fines against Greensboro church’s solar project — Taft Wareback, News & Record
Duke Energy urges regulators to fine advocates in solar case — Bruce Henderson, The Charlotte Observer
Rein in Duke Energy, Groups Tell Attorney General — News Release from NC WARN
An alliance of nonprofits today called for NC Attorney General Roy Cooper to assert his explicit legal authority to enforce the corporate charter of Duke Energy, saying an investigation of the corporation’s North Carolina operations is required due to its history of criminality – from partnering with Enron to coal ash failures – and a rapidly advancing climate crisis that could see sea levels rise 10 feet by mid-century.
See coverage in the Los Angeles Times, Charlotte Observer and others.