Friends,
Hope you and your family had a wonderful Easter holiday. At church, we celebrated rebirth and hope for the future. I’m fearful that that hope will be diminished by the decisions made this Session.
And this week, we have a very timely example — H298. The Affordable and Reliable Energy Act will be heard in Commerce on Wednesday morning, but could negatively impact the prospects for North Carolina for years to come.NCLCV is adamantly OPPOSED to this legislation and urge you to vote against it. Defending the RPS will be one of our priorities this session, therefore this will be a Scorecard vote.
Below you will see information from the North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association about positive benefits of maintaining a robust Renewable Portfolio Standard in North Carolina. The numbers don’t lie: a vote against this bill will be a vote against jobs.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask. Hope you have a great week.
Cheers,
Dan Crawford | dan@nclcv.org
- Despite claims by House Bill 298 to the contrary, clean energy policies in North Carolina will save ratepayers $173 million by 2026, according to a new study released by RTI International and La Capra Associates. A summary of the findings and the full report is available here.
- The best way to encourage companies to invest and create jobs in our state is to give them certainty about polices. House Bill 298 signals to the business and investment community that the rules are changing and their investments are no longer welcome here. Since 2007, the total economic benefit to North Carolina from clean energy project development is $1.7 billion. In that same time, 21,162 job years have been created (a job year is one person working in a job for one year). (Source: RTI and LaCapra reported cited above.)
- North Carolina has a highly-regulated electricity market where only utilities can sell power directly to consumers. This monopoly control of our utilities limits innovation and market competition. However, the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard (REPS), was the first opportunity for clean energy companies to compete and offer consumers a choice. All of this while creating thousands of jobs, expanding business opportunities, pumping billions of dollars into our economy, and driving down the cost of clean energy resources.
- The REPS was part of a comprehensive energy law (Senate Bill 3) that passed with overwhelming bipartisan support pertaining to coal, nuclear, natural gas, renewable energy and energy efficiency. Third reading (final) votes are available here.
- In a recent poll conducted by Fallon Research, when 803 registered NC voters were asked if they agree or disagree that elected officials should seek more alternative and renewable energy sources, 75.7% of Republicans agreed, 89% of Democrats agreed, and 81.6% of Independents agreed. Full poll results can be found here.
Oppose
SB10 Government Reorganization and Efficiency Act
SB32 Periodic Review and Expiration of Rules / HB74
SB171 Limit Regulation of Greenhouse Gas Emissions
SB391 401 Certification Clarification
HB120 Building Codes: Local Consistency/Exempt Cable / SB108
HB201 Reinstate 2009 Energy Conservation Codes
HB298 Affordable and Reliable Energy Act / SB365
Support
SB343 PED to Study DENR Action/Alcoa Contamination
SB362 Study Energy Efficiency Incentives
HB315 Plastics Labeling Requirements
HB401 Efficient and Affordable Energy Rates
Monitoring
SB24 Construction/Demolition Landfill Siting
HB10 Remove Route Restriction for NC 540 Loop
HB89/SB113 DENR Support for Regional Water Supply System
HB94/SB112 Amend Environmental Laws 2013
HB134 Repeal Garden Parkway Authorization/Funding
