Stein announces new 'energy affordability' task force to focus on keeping bills low, jobs coming

A new task force focused on keeping energy prices down will focus on growing North Carolina's renewable energy infrastructure, Gov. Josh Stein announced Tuesday.

His new executive order comes on the heels of Republican state lawmakers passing a new law last month, over the Democratic governor's veto, that removes carbon reduction rules for Duke Energy and also allows the utility giant to increase costs for residential customers in North Carolina, in order to lower what businesses pay. That pro-business change was lobbied for heavily by the state Chamber of Commerce and other business interests.

Stein's new task force also comes as Republican President Donald Trump has sought to eliminate tax credits and other funds for renewable energy projects approved by the U.S. Congress under former Democratic President Joe Biden — money that former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper also used as part of his economic development strategy to lure factories and other businesses in the clean energy industry to North Carolina.

Those past efforts under Cooper and Biden led to companies pledging to create tens of thousands of jobs in North Carolina in the coming years, combined with billions of dollars in new factories and other buildings to boost the state's property tax base.

Stein said protecting those promised investments in North Carolina despite the federal cuts — and keeping energy costs low — will be two main goals of the task force.

"North Carolina is a leader in the clean energy economy and is home to more than 100,000 clean energy jobs," he said. "I am grateful for this task force helping to determine how our state can build on this economic momentum, meet growing energy demands, and ensure electricity is affordable for North Carolinians."

Will Scott, the Southeast climate and clean energy director for the Environmental Defense Fund, said in an interview that efforts like this will be crucial not just for the environment but also to help meet the increasing demand for energy caused by North Carolina's booming economy and population.

“Electricity demand is growing faster than we can build traditional power plants like gas, nuclear, coal,” he said. “And so our best options are things like solar and batteries that can be installed really quickly — or innovative things like incentivizing people who turn down their hot water heaters, put batteries in their houses. We're going to have to think outside the box in order to meet unprecedented electricity demand in the 21st century.”

Stein has previously said Trump's new spending plan will threaten tens of thousands of jobs in North Carolina's solar industry and other clean energy sectors, and could lead to people as much as 18% more for their power bills. He's hoping his task force can come up with policy solutions to protect them.

But the new task force isn't aiming to take a purely political stance on energy policy. It's a bipartisan group that's being led by Stein's top environmental chief, Reid Wilson, as well as by state Rep. Kyle Hall, a Stokes County Republican who chairs the Energy and Public Utilites Committee in the state House of Representatives.

"North Carolina is growing fast, and we need to meet a greater need for energy while at the same time lowering people’s utility bills," Hall said in a news release. "This bipartisan task force will find real solutions that continue to foster growth and keep more money in North Carolinians’ wallets."

Stein said, in announcing his new excutive order, that North Carolina's population and economic boom has led to a rise in demand for energy from residential as well as business customers. But in addition to that, he said, artificial intelligence companies are increasingly looking to North Carolina for sites to build data centers.

Those data centers are incredibly energy-intensive, and Stein's office said that will add pressure on state leaders to help keep energy costs down for everyone else — something his office said should be accomplished with a greater reliance on renewable energy.

"Governor Stein is committed to lowering energy costs for families, reducing North Carolina’s dependence on carbon, and expanding the state’s clean energy economy," the executive order announcemen states. "The state’s commitment to clean energy has attracted companies from across the globe. Since taking office, Governor Stein has announced $4.9 billion in new investments and more than 15,000 new jobs from clean energy and clean technology companies, including JetZero’s announcement of the largest jobs commitment in state history at Piedmont Triad International Airport to manufacture high efficiency, low emissions aircraft."

WRAL News reporter Liz McLaughlin contributed reporting.