Governor Roy Cooper last week joined those citing the link between Duke Energy’s rolling blackouts in December with failures in its fossil fuel power generation infrastructure, and underscoring the need to grow reliable renewable energy development instead.

“North Carolinians deserve reliable, sustainable electricity at a reasonable cost, but because of increasingly severe weather and aging fossil fuel plants, that result could be less certain. That’s why we now have a plan to ensure more reliable and sustainable electricity by moving more quickly toward low-cost renewable energy.” 

Cooper was far from alone in this call. In a commentary for Energy News Network, former legislative leader and current member of the N.C. Energy Policy Council John Szoka said, “In Duke Energy’s testimony [to the NC Utilities Commission on January 3], the utility squarely placed blame for the blackouts on its frozen fossil units and technology glitches rather than on renewable energy or any state or federal energy policies. In North Carolina, failed software systems and frozen instrumentation at gas and coal power plants were the prime culprits.” 

CIB has previously featured NCLCV Executive Director Carrie Clark’s article noting that clean, renewable energy sources are increasingly proving to be more reliable than fossil fuels during extreme weather: 

Spread the word: Renewable energy is reliable energy.