Cooper Pushes Back Against Retreat on Clean Energy

Governor Roy Cooper used the annual State Energy Conference to make his case for continued progress on clean energy development—and against legislative efforts to grind that progress to a halt.

Cooper outlined his administration’s efforts to shift North Carolina to clean energy sources and address climate change in remarks at the State Energy Conference. Speaking to conferees in energy business and research from across North Carolina, Cooper specifically cited the bipartisan energy reform law of 2021 (HB 951), and asked for support in fighting legislative proposals this year to halt or roll back progress on boosting electric vehicles, energy efficiency, and offshore wind development.

“These are the kinds of things we need to do to speak up to let these processes work to make sure we are fully moving to a clean energy economy,” Cooper said. 

Cooper predicted that the state’s economy and jobs growth would suffer if legislators managed to slow its efforts to fully develop clean, renewable energy here.

“The EV industry – the clean energy industry – is cranking up right here in North Carolina,” Gov. Cooper said. “From EV battery manufacturing in Randolph County to semiconductor production and whole EV production in Chatham County to charging station production in Durham County, North Carolina has a claim to every single link and every single job in this growing lucrative supply chain- not just the cars.” The 2023 State Energy Conference of North Carolina had over 800 participants April 25-26 at the NC Clean Energy Technology Center at NC State University’s McKimmon Center.