Speaker from NC Environmental Justice Network
On Tuesday evening, about a hundred people gathered in front of the Durham County Courthouse to protest the climate policies of Duke Energy and the North Carolina Utilities Commission (NCUC). Speakers at the rally criticized the utility's plans for 8.9 gigawatts (GW) of new fracked gas plants in speeches. At seven o’clock, the crowd went into the courthouse for an NCUC public hearing.
According to state law HB951, Duke Energy and the NCUC must eliminate carbon dioxide (CO2) in the utility sector by 2050. In apparent defiance, the utility has planned for 8.9 GW of new fracked gas plants by 2035 [1]. Duke Energy’s promise that new fracked gas plants would be converted to hydrogen fuel in the 2040s has been viewed with skepticism by critics.
CT and CC technologies are compatible with fracked gas. Image credit: Duke Energy, “IRP Load Growth Fact Sheet”
The “Rally Against the Duke Energy Carbon Plan” featured speeches from Dr. Crystal Cavalier-Keck from 7 Directions of Service, Caroline Armijo of The Lilies Project, Bobby Jones of Down East Coal Ash, and others. The event was MC-ed by Karen Bearden from 350 Triangle.
"The Dan and Roanoke River watersheds are the only places on earth where you can find the Roanoke Logperch and James Spinymussel,” said Cavalier-Keck. “These and other endemic species will cease to exist if we don’t protect them from harm like Duke’s proposed methane-fracked gas build outs in Rockingham, Caswell, and Person Counties.”
People at Tuesday’s rally debated the size of Duke Energy’s fracked gas expansion, which is complex and poorly covered by media. Some saw a small victory since as recently as 2022 Duke Energy was planning an even-larger fracked gas expansion of 11.7 GW [2, pg. 86, table E-84]. Others worried that the reduction to 8.9 GW by 2035 not fully understood, and could be a trick to push through other negative policies.
“We're here because we recognize that the climate change emergency is upon us. We're not talking about climate change coming tomorrow or in ten years, it's already here," said one speaker, "We’re here because we believe that not one community can be regarded as disposable. We believe that for our communities in eastern North Carolina… for our workers here in Durham County…and for people overseas.”
Twelve environmental groups planned the rally together including Climate Action NC, NC Black Alliance, and Sunrise Movement Durham Hub. Organizers were pleased that the event included both “climate change” and “environmental justice” groups, which often divide on lines of race and class.
During the “Rally Against the Duke Energy Carbon Plan”, speakers accused Duke Energy of pushing fracked gas under false pretenses. The power plants have a lifespan of 30 to 40 years. Green groups fear that plans for 8.9 GW of fracked gas would enable Duke Energy to emit CO2 far past the 2050 deadline ordered by HB951.
The utility has promised to convert new fracked gas plants to green hydrogen in the 2040s, but the technology for a full transition to hydrogen fuel does not exist. There are no 100 percent hydrogen-fired plants in the world, a fact often pointed out at Tuesday's rally, making Duke Energy’s proposal some combination of dubious, reckless, or fraudulent.
Speech by Caroline Armijo from The Lilies Project
State law requires the NCUC to revise the carbon plan every two years. Many of the green groups in front of the courthouse had held similar events for public hearings in 2022, but the NCUC still went ahead and approved plans for two GW of new fracked gas plants [3]. That led many environmentalists to view the regulator as a rubber-stamp for Duke Energy.
The activist’s speeches ended at seven o’clock and people lined up to get into the courthouse. Some attendees didn’t plan to stay for long. When NCUC member Floyd McKissick opened the proceedings, disruptions began almost immediately. The first to stand up and loudly denounce the NCUC was Bobby Jones from Down East Coal Ash Environmental and Social Justice Coalition.
“This hearing is a farce! We already told you what you need to do last time, and you betrayed us! I’m walking out, and we’ll be holding a real hearing outside for anyone that wants to join.”
NCUC member Floyd McKissick chaired Tuesday’s hearing. Image credit: NC Legislature
McKissick soothed the crowd, assuring them that public testimony was taken seriously by the NCUC. There were two more protests and walkouts in the early minutes of the hearing. By the time calm was restored, a dozen people had left the courtroom to go outside for a “People’s Hearing” led by Jodi Lasseter of NC Climate Justice Collective.
Environmentalists have good reason for cynicism toward the NCUC. On paper, the regulator oversees Duke Energy, with full powers to apply state laws to the private monopoly. While accurate, that picture leaves out Duke Energy’s spectacular influence over state politics which the utility has used to shape energy laws and ensure a compliant NCUC.
In the last two years, the NCUC has rubber-stamped four of Duke Energy’s requests – the last carbon plan docket in December 2022, a rooftop solar case in March 2023, as well as two huge rate hikes in August and December 2023.
“Rally Against the Duke Energy Carbon Plan” on April 30, 2024. Image credit: NCCJC
When the interruptions petered out, McKissick began to call up attendees to give testimony on the carbon plan. Speech after speech requested the same policies – speed up closure of coal plants, scrap plans for new fracked gas, and move toward a renewable grid based on local solar, battery storage, and wind power.
McKissick listened to the comments politely, as he had during the 2022 hearings. A bailiff watched the crowd carefully, on guard for more mischief.
Outside at the “People’s Hearing”, participants passed around a microphone and talked about Duke Energy and the NCUC. One member, Steph Gans, said the whole situation reminded her of her work as a therapist. She recalled clients who were cigarette smokers tell her about the emotional agony of knowing they’d paid thousands of dollars for a product that later gave them cancer or heart attacks.
“It’s a little different with Duke Energy. They come and tell us that they’re going to ruin our communities and destroy our environment. And the kicker is, we have to pay for it”.
Flooding in Fair Bluff, NC caused by Hurricane Matthew in 2016. Two years later, the town was hit by Hurricane Florence. Image credit: The Guardian
Work Cited
1. Duke Energy Corporation. Supplemental Updates to Duke Energy’s Resource Plan. season-01 2024, www.duke-energy.com/-/media/pdfs/our-company/carolinas-resource-plan/january-24-fact-sheet.pdf?rev=8e61a3e3e8c844daaf4f2d5b6635c687.
2. “Carolinas Carbon Plan, ‘Quantitative Analysis.’” NC Utilities Commission, 16 May 2022, starw1.ncuc.gov/NCUC/ViewFile.aspx?Id=bad82411-63e7-4553-9c0c-18a8f671773d.
3. Clingman, Alex. “NC Utilities Commission’s Carbon Plan Order.” NC Sustainable Energy Association, 6 Feb. 2023, energync.org/nc-utilities-commissions-2022-carbon-plan-order.
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