In a late-night legislative session, the N.C. House passed an energy bill early Thursday morning, July 15, that prescribes retirement for certain coal-fired plants, increases sourcing from renewables, and significantly alters the oversight authority of the N.C. Utilities Commission. Though developed over the past 18 months with a select group of stakeholders, changes to major...
Gov. Roy Cooper earlier this month signed an executive order prioritizing offshore wind energy as part of his administration’s Clean Energy Plan, which is focused on renewables to achieve goals such as reducing emissions by 70% by 2030. More recently, Republican lawmakers in the General Assembly have unveiled their working proposal to meet the state’s...
North Carolina remains vulnerable to fuel shortages because it’s too reliant on a pair of pipelines for gas and energy, industry leaders and experts told lawmakers. The point is made even more crucial because of a recent rise in both the number and sophistication of cyberattacks, such as the one that recently crippled the Colonial...
The N.C. Utilities Commission on Friday, April 16, issued an order approving a partial rate increase for Duke Energy Progress and a settlement addressing coal ash cleanup costs. The amount of the increase will be less than the 12.3% rate hike the private power provider requested, but the final number hasn’t been determined. Duke Energy...
A Duke Energy lobbyist said Gov. Roy Cooper’s senior policy adviser, Ken Eudy, wasn’t truthful when making statements to a legislative committee investigating the Cooper administration’s role in the Atlantic Coast Pipeline project and an associated $57.8 million discretionary fund. Eudy told Carolina Journal the lobbyist got it wrong. Eudy was the governor’s key negotiator...
Investigators concluded that Gov. Roy Cooper had “improperly used the authority and influence of his office” to pressure Duke Energy for concessions as it sought permits for a natural-gas pipeline.
The utility companies responsible for building the Atlantic Coast Pipeline were confident they would get the environmental permits they needed to start construction in North Carolina. What they didn’t know is whether they would win approval in time to avoid costly delays. The Cooper administration had leverage over the timing and appeared to use it...
Did Gov. Roy Cooper’s administration require operators of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline to provide Cooper a $57.8-milion “mitigation fund” before the state would approve the portion of the pipeline heading through North Carolina? Reporting by Carolina Journal suggests it did. The results of a legislative investigation into the issue will be released this week. The Joint Legislative...
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...
Gov. Cooper’s coal-ash policy will cost hundreds of millions of dollars a year. If it were an on-budget state expenditure, it would attract significant scrutiny.
If your goal is to reduce carbon emissions in electricity generation, the primary tools available are to replace coal with lower-emitting natural gas and to expand nuclear.
