Major energy bill emerges at NC statehouse
Negotiated by Duke Energy, manufacturers, the solar industry and others, the energy bill promises faster retirement for N.C.'s coal plants.
Posted — UpdatedEnvironmental groups and others cut out of the crafting process thus far were digesting the measure Tuesday afternoon. But in an initial take late Tuesday, the Environmental Defense Fund said the language seems to marry the state to natural gas, limiting regulators at the N.C. Utilities Commission that would otherwise have to sign off on such projects.
"The proposal appears to be a recipe for a more expensive and more polluting energy system than North Carolinians deserve," David Kelly, state political affairs director for the Environmental Defense Fund, said in a statement Tuesday evening. "This legislation appears to bind the hands of the commission by mandating new fossil-fuel power plant construction, irrespective of how those projects stack up against alternatives."
The N.C. Sustainable Energy Association, a clean energy industry group that was part of bill negotiations, also said the bill leans too heavily toward natural gas. The group said in a statement that it opposes the measure despite "important provisions in the bill that provide greater market access to affordable renewable energy for utility customers," and it called on lawmakers to eliminate the bill's "mandate to replace costly coal with risky natural gas."
Rep. John Szoka, R-Cumberland, who helped craft the bill, said he was "guardedly optimistic" about its chances to become law and that it was "within striking distance of reaching a final product." He said the bill sets out six years of energy policy with implications for another four years after that.
"There were a lot of competing desires in here," said Szoka. "Bills are always a balancing act."
Szoka also said the U.S. economy depends on affordable energy, and that without it manufacturing will move to other countries.
According to a summary that Republican bill writers released with the full bill text, it would cut carbon emissions by 61 percent by 2030, compared with 2005 levels. Gov. Roy Cooper's energy plan called for a 70 percent cut by 2030.
Carbon cuts under any of these plans largely would be achieved by retiring Duke coal plants, and the new bill lays out timetables for those retirements.
Some plants would be replaced by natural gas, others by solar energy and battery storage technology.
Retirement for Duke Energy's Roxboro plant – one of the country's largest power plants – would depend on natural gas availability under the bill. That would likely come from the Mountain Valley Pipeline Southgate extension, a project that faces legal challenges and has had trouble getting needed permits from the Cooper administration's environmental arm.
Without the pipeline, Roxboro would continue to operate as a coal-fired plant, according to the bill summary.
The bill's opening passages lay out the risks of a largely coal-fired system, predicting "future stringent federal environmental regulations." But the bill doesn't have the phrase "climate change" anywhere in its text.
It says that the policies set out follow an "all of the above" approach to energy policy and that they're "generally consistent" with the integrated resource plans Duke and other utilities have already filed with the state. Those IRPs are required by regulation and lay out a utility company's plans for the next several years.
Szoka and other lawmakers working the bill said this change and others would cut red tape for the utility, saving ratepayers money. In its statement late Tuesday, the Sustainable Energy Association said the measure needs better "guardrails to prevent utility over-earning at customer expense."
The measure also has language meant to encourage improvements to the state's power grid. Duke has pressed in recent years to accelerate this process with a multibillion-dollar investment covered by its customers.
- Authorizes securitization of up to $200 million in energy transition costs to save customers money"
"CCEBA is encouraged by the proposed expansion of the CPRE program in H 951, as well as the accelerated retirement of uneconomic coal plants and an expanded opportunity for customers to participate in renewable energy programs. We look forward to continuing to work with legislators, stakeholders, and the Cooper Administration to ensure that the final bill provides North Carolinians all the benefits of competitive procurement of low cost renewable energy."
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