Have you ever wondered what is causing your electric bill to go up?

Many North Carolinians currently believe our State’s growing use of energy savings solutions and renewable energy are the major cause of their rising electric bills due to inaccurate media stories or other sources.  Through our research into publicly available documents at the NC Utilities Commission, NCSEA has found that since 2000, the average residential customer’s electric bill has steadily risen to pay for the rising cost of coal fuel and new coal and natural gas power plants – not new renewable energy and energy saving solutions.

On Thursday, September 15, the Pew Project on National Security held a forum entitled "Critical Links Between Clean Energy and National Security" at the Bryan Center at Duke University.  The forum featured national security leaders and local energy experts who discussed the critical links between our country’s energy use and national security. Presentations focused on the importance of growing the clean energy economy to strengthen our national security and the role the Department of Defense (DOD) can play as a catalyst of energy innovation. The event was well-attended, with approximately 200 people representing various interests from NC’s clean energy industry, including military, academia, local government and clean energy business leaders. 

North Carolina is leading the Southeast in the emerging clean energy economy. Below is a small sampling of what's happening across our state. Click below on each link to learn more about these recent innovations, announcements and advancements.

Legislators returned to Raleigh last week for a second special session, which made a handful of fixes to earlier legislation and approved a controversial constitutional amendment to ban same sex marriage and civil unions that will appear on the primary ballot in May. Although it appeared each day on the House calendar, no action was taken on Senate Bill 709, the "Energy Jobs Act," which legislators approved earlier this summer, but the Governor vetoed at the end of June. (This bill includes offshore oil drilling, natural gas "fracking," and a major restructuring of our state's Energy Policy Council - i.e. a promotion of fossil fuel development both on and offshore in NC and de-emphasizes clean energy development as a goal of state policy.) The Senate has already voted to override the Governor's veto of SB709, so it's awaiting action by the House, which currently does not have the needed 72 votes to override the veto.

Earlier today, the NC Sustainable Energy Association (NCSEA) submitted its testimony to the NC Utilities Commission outlining its opposition to the merger of Duke Energy and Progress Energy as it is currently proposed in the settlement reached recently with the Public Staff of the NC Utilities Commission.  In an effort to represent the utility customers of North Carolina, Ivan Urlaub, NCSEA’s Executive Director, discusses the organization’s concerns with the proposed settlement and summarizes several stipulations that should be incorporated into the merger by the NC Utilities Commission. Click here to view Urlaub's testimony.