Op-Ed by Jim Warren. The fracking boom of recent years – which poisons air and water in thousands of communities and causes earthquakes – has also accelerated the climate crisis at the worst possible time. The good news is that scientists say reducing methane emissions can slow warming in the crucial short term, buying more time to replace fossil fuels with renewables and slowing deforestation.
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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Duke Energy replacing in-person shareholder meetings with online event; critic questions motive — Charlotte Business Journal
Duke Energy will not hold an in-person annual shareholders meeting this year, opting instead to go with a real-time online meeting May 4 with written questions from shareholders for CEO Lynn Good.
Pull the Plug on Duke’s Nuclear Boondoggle — NC WARN News Release
Today NC WARN called for state regulators to disallow any further spending by Duke Energy on two proposed reactors now that its 13-year odyssey is off the rails following the recent collapse of the Toshiba-Westinghouse nuclear division.
Duke Energy Executives Count on Climate-Wrecking Fracked Gas & Captive Regulators – but Little Solar or Wind – for Years to Come — News Release from NC WARN
If the NC Utilities Commission approves Duke Energy’s latest 15-year Integrated Resource Plan, it risks bankrupting North Carolina’s economy through costly overbuilding of high-risk power plants. And the utility will continue fouling our air and water while escalating the global climate crisis as one of the world’s largest carbon polluters.
Why none of this Charlotte solar developer’s planned 250MW worth of 2017 projects are in N.C. — Charlotte Business Journal
Pine Gate Renewables started operations at its first two solar farms just as the year ended and has secured financing to build 250 megawatts worth of projects this year. But none of that will be built in North Carolina. Pine Gate’s entire pipeline of N.C. projects has been eliminated by Duke Energy’s “stiffness test” for new solar project connections to its grid. Many in the industry contend this new requirement is grinding construction to a halt in the state.
Case Against Backroom Deal-making Continues — News Release from NC WARN
Today NC WARN filed a response to the electric utilities and the Utilities Commission’s Public Staff in our pending request to end the longstanding practice of backroom deal-making by the regulators and regulated.
NC WARN Sues State, Regulators for Pro-Duke Energy Laws — News Release from NC WARN
In a case that goes to the heart of Duke Energy’s corporate business plan, climate protection nonprofit NC WARN today filed a lawsuit against the State of North Carolina and its utility regulators over two state laws passed 50 years apart.
Environmental group fighting Duke Energy plant sues state – News & Observer
$98 million bond to appeal a Duke Energy power plant permit gets legal challenge – The Charlotte Observer
N.C. regulators approve $4.9B Duke Energy-Piedmont Natural Gas deal — Charlotte Business Journal
The N.C. Utilities Commission has approved Duke Energy’s $4.9 billion purchase of Piedmont Natural Gas, clearing the way for the deal to close early next week. The commission ruled Thursday “the known and potential benefits of the merger are sufficient to offset the potential costs and risks.”
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.
Exposing Duke Energy’s Fiction: Actual Growth Rate is Three Times Lower than Estimates Used to Argue for New Plants over the Years — News Release from NC WARN
NC WARN has long maintained that Duke Energy wildly exaggerates projections of electricity demand so it can keep building unneeded power plants and raising customer rates – and that state regulators should scrutinize the estimates instead of accepting Duke execs at their word year after year.