RALEIGH, NC — North Carolina’s leading clean energy conference is just around the corner – space is limited so attendees are encouraged to register today!  The NC Sustainable Energy Association (NCSEA) will hold its annual “Making Energy Work” conference on Wednesday, November 9^th at the Raleigh Convention Center.  The conference is well-known for delivering unparalleled educational content, stimulating discussions and debates, and great networking opportunities for a wide range of attendees including the “novice” to energy industry experts to policymakers – everyone involved with our rapidly-developing clean energy economy.  For more information on the agenda and to register, please visit: http://energync.org/annualmeeting2011.

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.

Merger Update: Shareholders of Duke Energy Corp. and Progress Energy Inc. voted separately Tuesday to approve the merger of the two utilities. More than 90 percent of the votes cast by proxy and in person at the Duke shareholder meeting in Charlotte were in favor of the deal.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR: Beginning on Sept. 20, the NC Utilities Commission  will hold a hearing regarding the proposed merger, which will include the taking of public witness testimony and the testimony of Duke, Progress, the Public Staff, and other intervenors. The hearing will begin at 9am (Commission Hearing Room 2115, Dobbs Building, 430 N. Salisbury Street, Raleigh) and continue as necessary until the conclusion of the case. Click here for more info (see pg. 4).

Each year, NCSEA presents awards to businesses and individuals who show exemplary innovation and leadership in advancing the clean energy economy in North Carolina.  Nominations may be made online by peers, partners or the business or individual themselves.  Award winners will be announced at NCSEA's 2011 Making Energy Work conference on November 9 at the Raleigh Convention Center.  The deadline to submit nominations is Friday, September 23.

In August of 2007, North Carolina because the first Southeastern state in the United States to adopt the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard. In this, all investor- owned North Carolinian utilities are mandated to meet a minimum of 12.5 percent of their energy requirements via renewable energy resources and/or measures of energy efficiency. For rural electrical cooperatives, as well as municipal electric suppliers, the standard is only ten percent. Since the signing of the standard, North Carolina has taken great steps in becoming a leader in the cleantech industry, not just in the South but throughout the entire nation.

RALEIGH – In response to Gov. Bev Perdue’s veto this afternoon of Senate Bill 709, the “Energy Jobs Act,” the NC Sustainable Energy Association (NCSEA) is calling on legislators to seize this opportunity to develop comprehensive energy legislation that includes a wider range of our in-state energy resources. The goal should be to retain our current clean energy jobs and create thousands of new jobs immediately while also studying potential new resources. 

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.

Amidst a week of news reports about Duke Energy’s lack of need for new solar capacity to comply with state solar requirements, Progress Energy Carolinas (PEC) has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for additional solar photovoltaic (PV) resources....

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.

RALEIGH, NC– Earlier today, Reps. Tom Murry (R-Wake), Jim Crawford (D-Granville), Tim Moffitt (R-Buncombe) and Ruth Samuelson (R- Mecklenburg) introduced House Bill 495, The Solar Jobs Bill.  When passed, the bill will create thousands of new solar energy jobs in all regions of North Carolina.  Job estimates for North Carolina’s rapidly growing solar energy industry currently totals nearly 2,000 employees at approximately 170 companies.  Passage of this bill will increase market demand and competition, which will continue the industry’s expansion by creating 4,000 new solar energy jobs in our state – resulting in a total of 6,000 solar jobs by 2015.