The Center for Biological Diversity submitted a brief to the North Carolina Utilities Commission arguing that utilities cannot use ratepayer funds for trade association dues as it violates customers’ First Amendment rights. Money from ratepayers is frequently channeled into campaigns against rooftop solar.
The brief responds to regulations proposed by the commission in August, which would, for the first time, prohibit investor-owned utilities like Duke Energy from charging customers for lobbying and political contributions. It argues that more restrictions are necessary to protect utility customers, as charging for membership in industry trade groups, like the Edison Electric Institute, also violates the law. These groups frequently use funding to oppose renewable energy and other efforts to combat the climate crisis.
“Duke is funneling ratepayers’ money to trade groups as a backchannel way to attack environmental protections and buy political influence,” said Howard Crystal, a senior attorney at the Center. “Edison Electric Institute and similar trade associations spend millions of dollars a year fighting air and water safeguards while propping up dirty fossil fuels. North Carolinians shouldn’t be expected to bank-roll lobbying and propaganda that will fuel even more climate chaos and pollution.”
Duke Energy, the second-largest electric utility in the world, generates 90 percent of the electricity used in North Carolina and emits more carbon pollution than any other U.S. utility. Duke often wields its political influence to block competition from cheaper, cleaner renewable energy sources. It has also pushed for projects like the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, which would cut through North Carolina communities.
“Our members and supporters in North Carolina have suffered enough from monster hurricanes and toxic coal ash contamination,” Crystal said. “They want to break free of dirty energy, but Duke is using their utility payments to rig the system in favor of fossil fuels that threaten the planet.”
News item from the Center for Biological Diversity
Randy Wheeless says
Someone should tell this group that North Carolina is #2 in the nation for solar generation.
How exactly is Duke Energy blocking renewable energy?
Solarman says
“The brief responds to regulations proposed by the commission in August, which would, for the first time, prohibit investor-owned utilities like Duke Energy from charging customers for lobbying and political contributions. It argues that more restrictions are necessary to protect utility customers, as charging for membership in industry trade groups, like the Edison Electric Institute, also violates the law. These groups frequently use funding to oppose renewable energy and other efforts to combat the climate crisis.”
Amendment 1 an initiative ballot measure pushed with “millions” of dollars from Duke and FP&L in Florida in 2016 is just such an example. Duke also pushed a measure in Nevada, both of these ballot measures failed at the polls. Most of your large energy companies see that they cannot beat them, but can “join” them. Duke, Pinnacle, Sempra, NRG and several “other” big energy suppliers are trying State by State to use the initiative process to gain State Constitutional protection for their “regulated monopolies” as a centralized generation with “unidirectional” grid energy delivery. They are glad to buy into or construct solar PV or wind generation, as long as they own and control the asset. Individual distributed generation interrupts their “operations” with things like “duck curves”. The rote electric utility operations like “spinning reserve”, alternative energy “curtailment” are wasteful and unnecessary. Now think about it, “spinning reserve”, in particular burning coal, just “enough” to keep the plant’s boiler near steam, just in case the grid demand needs more generation for a few hours. You pay for this inefficiency up front in fuel charges. Curtailing a solar PV plant and or wind generation facility and throwing away free non-fueled energy generated in “excess” is also wasteful and direct to the point, stupid. You also pay for this inefficiency, when the rote utility signs a spot market contract for “ramping” generation at a premium energy price, when “stored” overgeneration is a much more cost effective solution, for the ratepayers anyway. They’re using some of YOUR monthly electric bill as a PAC and in YOUR Name, the “ratepayer” promote themselves as the saviors of your electric bills. Just a heads up, Duke or any other electric entity is not YOUR Union and does not represent you in their PAC activities, but you’re still paying the ‘dues’ in every electric bill.