A legislative investigation into the permit process for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline is a sham, say representatives of Gov. Roy Cooper. The claim was part of a news release sent from Cooper’s office 30 minutes after a Friday, Nov. 8, legislative committee meeting in Raleigh. Legislators, who are looking into how Cooper’s administration handled an...
Repairing roads damaged by hurricanes and paying property owners harmed by the Map Act have been costly, but they do not fully explain the North Carolina Department of Transportation’s cash crunch.
Legislators looking into how Gov. Roy Cooper’s administration handled an environmental permit for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline have asked Cooper and three of his top staffers to testify in Raleigh at a legislative committee meeting Friday, Nov. 8. The request came a few days after Cooper’s chief of staff Kristi Jones sent a testy letter...
The Atlantic Coast Pipeline remains on hold. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday, July 26, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service failed to follow the Endangered Species Act when it approved a permit for the ACP. This is the second time this court has considered the issue. The pipeline is supposed to...
It started with a simple request on Saturday morning, Jan. 13, 2018. Duke Energy lobbyist Kathy Hawkins asked Ken Eudy, Gov. Roy Cooper’s senior adviser, to help expedite a state official’s signature on an agreement tied to Duke’s Atlantic Coast Pipeline project. Hawkins told Eudy the state needed to sign the agreement before the Federal...
Meredith Cooper, Gov. Roy Cooper’s sister-in-law, has been listed since April as manager of the company that owns the Cooper family’s Nash County solar farm property. That’s when Meredith filed an annual report with the N.C. Secretary of State. Meredith Cooper’s husband is Pell Cooper, a District Court judge. Pell and Roy Cooper are brothers....
Two executive orders President Donald Trump signed Wednesday, April 10, could expedite completion of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and other interstate energy transmission projects that have been delayed by state regulators. Pipeline permit-delaying tactics by officials in Washington, D.C., and New York influenced Trump’s decision to sign the executive orders. Energy companies also have pressured...
Roughly $1.25 billion. That’s how much Duke Energy customers will be overpaying for electricity over the next 10 to 15 years. We can thank North Carolina law — and Gov. Roy Cooper — for the higher bills that come with long-term solar energy contracts Duke has been forced to accept. That’s not only bad for...
Gov. Roy Cooper and his staff laid out a comprehensive plan to sell the public on the approval of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and a $57.8 million discretionary fund connected to the project, documents show. The parties involved in this PR campaign included the N.C. Democratic Party, Cooper’s campaign manager, the state Department of Environmental...
When describing access to public records, “slow” is the first word that comes to mind, Ken Eudy, a senior adviser to Gov. Roy Cooper said Monday, March 11, during a talk on government transparency at Elon University. Eudy’s 30-minute speech came before a group of reporters and local government staffers at an event hosted by...
The Senate on Thursday unanimously passed a bill to protect state whistleblowers from retaliation. Senate Bill 127, which heads to the House, would bring North Carolina in line with laws in dozens of other states. Senators said the bill didn’t arise from any specific situation. But they acknowledged it would apply to a showdown lawmakers...
