Duke’s Dirty Energy Bill and Two Other Pro-Polluter Bills Enacted by Veto Overrides
Last week, North Carolina’s climate action policies took a giant leap backwards. The General Assembly voted to override Gov. Josh Stein’s veto of Senate Bill (SB) 266. Its sponsors misleadingly titled this bill “Power Bill Reduction Act.” In reality, it’s more accurate to call it Duke’s Dirty Energy Bill.
Choosing Corporate Greed Over Constituents
“Lawmakers who voted for this bill chose to reward corporate greed over the people they were elected to serve,” said Dan Crawford, NCLCV’s director of governmental relations. “By overriding the governor’s veto, they handed Duke Energy a blank check – one that North Carolinians will be forced to pay. Two independent studies found eliminating our interim climate goal – reducing greenhouse gas emissions 70% by 2030 – could raise residential customers’ rates by $23 billion by 2050 due to increasing our dependence on fossil fuels. What passed today wasn’t energy policy. It was a handout to monopoly interests, and North Carolinians will pay the price.”
Padding the Pockets of Corporate Polluters
Crawford continues:
“Additionally, SB 266 includes a provision called CWIP (Construction Work in Progress), which allows Duke to charge customers in advance for projects that haven’t produced a single kilowatt – and may never be completed at all. This is nothing more than a gamble with ratepayers’ money, and it could cost hardworking families.
“We’ve seen this story before. Our neighbors in South Carolina and Georgia have already paid the price for similar schemes, and they warned us. Yet lawmakers chose to ignore those lessons and side with monopoly profits over public interest. This decision has nothing to do with keeping the lights on – and everything to do with padding the pockets of corporate polluters.”
Power in the General Assembly
The override passed in both the Senate and House on near-party line votes. We expected this in the Senate, where Republican leaders have a veto-proof majority. If all current members of the Senate are present and voting with their party leadership, there is a Republican “supermajority” guaranteeing that any Republican-backed bill will pass. See the final vote breakdown in the Senate here.
The result in the House was less foreordained, since the numbers are slightly better for the environment there. When all current members of the House are present and voting with their leadership, the Democrats have just enough votes to maintain a veto by Gov. Stein. However, in the case of SB 266, three Democratic House members broke with their leadership and voted to override the veto, providing the necessary three-fifths “supermajority” for passage. Democratic representatives supporting SB 266 were Carla Cunningham (Mecklenburg), Nasif Majeed (Mecklenburg), and Shelly Willingham (Bertie, Edgecombe, Martin). See the complete vote breakdown in the House here.
We thank all our members that emailed their Representatives and Senators, urging them to stand up for everyday North Carolinians. While we didn’t defeat this bill, your continued support and involvement will help us hold these lawmakers accountable in the next election. Support our work today.
Halting Environment Rules
Governor Stein’s vetoes of two other pro-polluter bills were also overridden last week.
The first, House Bill (HB) 402, could make it easier for the current pro-polluter leadership of the legislature to block state rules on environmental and other matters. In the House, Democratic Representatives Cunningham and Willingham again provided the margin necessary to achieve a veto overriding supermajority.
The Southern Environmental Law Center issued a statement regarding the override votes, which said, “Now law, HB 402 effectively halts environmental rulemaking – such as limits on toxic PFAS and cancer-causing 1,4-dioxane pollution of North Carolina’s drinking water sources. It prohibits decisionmakers from considering benefits to North Carolina’s families and communities when calculating the impact of potential rules, and requires unanimous approval of rulemaking bodies for rules that cost more than $10 million over a five-year period, with a two-thirds threshold for bills costing more than $1 million over five years.”
More Dark Money in Politics
SB 416 makes it easier for corporate “dark money” sources to hide funds that they’re channeling into state campaigns. In the House, three Democratic Representatives defected from their leadership position to vote for approval of the veto override: Cecil Brockman (Guilford), Carla Cunningham (Mecklenburg), and Shelly Willingham (Bertie, Edgecombe, Martin).
Our Work Is More Important Than Ever!
We now turn to holding these legislators accountable, both in our scorecard and at the ballot box next year. This work is only possible because of your support. Help us fight for clean air, water, and energy for all North Carolinians.
