With their vote for the Big Ugly Bill (HR 1), Congress killed clean energy jobs in North Carolina. Multiple NC clean energy companies have already declared bankruptcy. And H.R. 1 could cause a significant cost in electricity prices for North Carolinians – a more than 13 percent increase for households and a more than 20 percent increase for businesses. In total, when these tax credits were repealed, an average North Carolina family could expect to pay $200 more per year to power their homes. Instead, the wealthiest Americans will get a tax cut.
Our state had a bipartisan plan: reduce greenhouse gas emissions 70% by 2030 and reach carbon neutrality by 2050, which would also keep energy bills from going through the roof. But greedy Duke Energy and other big-money polluters lobbied hard to tear that plan apart.
Governor Stein vetoed the bill that would have done just that, but the legislature overrode his veto.
This new law gutted our 2030 climate goal and will raise residential energy bills. An independent study found that eliminating the 2030 target could cost North Carolina ratepayers an extra $23 billion by 2050 in fuel expenses due to increased reliance on gas. It also allowed Duke to charge customers for dirty gas plants while they are being built, before they ever begin to deliver energy. Finally, the bill shifts more of the cost of extra power from big businesses to regular households during peak demand – raising residential bills by $87 million statewide each year.
Contact your elected officials in DC and Raleigh today to tell them, “Enough is enough!”