Investigate Duke Energy’s Grid and Land Seizure Scheme

Background

Deep in its 2022 proposed Carbon Plan, DukeEnergy quietly included plans for hundreds of miles and new, expanded and upgraded transmission corridors costing at least $9 billion. Duke referenced a need for an “aggressive timeline” to begin transmission construction, and NC WARN anticipates that Duke is already spending heavily on internal planning that is invisible to the people of North Carolina.

Duke Energy’s new transmission lines would run mainly through rural areas of both Carolinas, many of them low-income or communities of color that have been targeted by polluters for decades, and detrimentally impact farms, forests, and natural areas.

 Duke has not revealed to what extent it would use eminent domain for new corridors or to expand existing transmission corridors. The people of North Carolina deserve to know – and be heard – before the bulldozers arrive.

Despite Duke Energy’s greenwashing, its NCUC-approved Carbon Plan would limit large-scale solar for many years and make the power costlier by applying much of the transmission costs to the price of electricity from new solar farms. Meanwhile, some 45 scientists have pressed Gov. Cooper to stanch Duke Energy’s huge expansion of power generation from methane gas, arguing that curbing methane emissions is the fastest way to help with the climate crisis.

Duke Energy and the NC Utilities Commission have declined to analyze alternatives to Duke’s expensive and damaging plan. NC WARN’s new proposal, “Moving North Carolina Forward: The Case for Local Solar Plus-Storage,” written with technical support from engineer Bill Powers, details the ways in which local solar-plus-battery storage can function as a less expensive and more equitable alternative to Duke’s transmission buildout plan.

“There is more than 2.5 times the available solar capacity on roofs, parking areas and vacant lots as needed to meet North Carolina’s decarbonization mandates.” – NC WARN’s “Moving NC Forward,” based on data from the National Renewable Energy Lab

North Carolina has a huge potential for local solar power – on roofs of schools, stores, warehouses, homes, etc. – that could be built quickly, inexpensively and equitably while creating thousands of jobs and helping slow the global climate crisis.

NC WARN is calling on Governor Cooper and Attorney General Stein to investigate Duke Energy’s true intentions and activities with respect to its proposed transmission buildout. Important decisions regarding NC’s climate future should be dealt with in an open and transparent manner – not tucked away under a thousand pages of text.

North Carolina is at a crossroads. Will we double down on an inefficient, slowing moving transmission buildout and watch the climate crisis worsen? Or will we change course toward a far faster, cheaper and more equitable path to reach Gov. Cooper’s carbon goals?