This year has been an extremely busy, challenging and successful one for NCSEA's policy staff at the NC General Assembly - join us as we take a look back. The NC General Assembly concluded the bulk of its 2011 legislative session last Saturday afternoon, adjourning until July 13 when legislators will come back to Raleigh for a special session focused primarily on redistricting (approving new voting districts).

On June 29th, NCSEA’s legislative team (Ivan Urlaub, Julie Robinson, Tom Bean) held our "2011 Legislative Wrap-Up" webinar.  Click here to download the webinar presentation. The hour-long webinar included great discussions and Q&A regarding the 2011 session, including the outcome of legislative proposals to strengthen our state’s energy efficient building code and commitment to growing our solar industry, positioning our state to benefit from offshore wind power, growing our smart grid industry, and securing funding for our innovative clean energy economic development institutions like the NC Solar Center, among other critical matters.

Last week, the NC Utilities Commission conducted hearings on Duke Energy's progress toward complying with our state's Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard (REPS) law - and specifically the solar set aside. Attendees, including NCSEA's staff, were stunned by their testimony. And, in a second blow to NC's clean energy industry and consumers this week, our utilities finally convinced legislative leadership to not take up the Solar Jobs Bill (HB495/SB473) and the Energy Independence & Job Creation Bill (SB694). These much-needed bills would have retained jobs, created up to 8,300 new jobs across North Carolina by 2015, and allowed a reasonable amount of market competition.