By Rita Leadem. Regarding “Residents could get rooftop solar option” (June 7): Duke Energy and legislative leaders sold North Carolina a bag of beans with the Competitive Energy Solutions bill.
Renewable Energy
See a map of renewables in your county or state Senate district.
See solar energy statistics for North Carolina.
Want solar for your home or business? Check out our Tips for Going Solar.
All News Categories
Lousy Process Leads to Lousy Decision-Making on Energy Bill — News Release from NC WARN
The bill is not clearly beneficial for either customers or the solar industry. It could actually be harmful to the growth of solar in the state due to the countless limitations it places on rooftop and large-scale projects.
150 NC Faith Leaders Urging Duke Energy to Partner on Solar Program — News Release from Faith in Solar
North Carolina faith leaders are seeking to get their energy straight from the sun. More than 150 of them – along with the North Carolina NAACP and the Ministers’ Conference of Winston-Salem and Vicinity – are calling for Duke Energy to partner with them to help slow climate change by facilitating the installation of solar power systems on houses of worship around the state.
Court of Appeals hears arguments on nonprofit that is selling solar energy to Greensboro church — News & Record
A North Carolina advocacy group argued before the N.C. Court of Appeals Thursday that it should be allowed to sell solar energy to a church in Greensboro. The court allowed oral arguments to be offered after the N.C. Utilities Commission banned NC WARN, an advocacy group, from selling energy to Faith Community Church.
Why none of this Charlotte solar developer’s planned 250MW worth of 2017 projects are in N.C. — Charlotte Business Journal
Pine Gate Renewables started operations at its first two solar farms just as the year ended and has secured financing to build 250 megawatts worth of projects this year. But none of that will be built in North Carolina. Pine Gate’s entire pipeline of N.C. projects has been eliminated by Duke Energy’s “stiffness test” for new solar project connections to its grid. Many in the industry contend this new requirement is grinding construction to a halt in the state.
Solar Power Is Not Merely Least Expensive — Clean Technica
We’ve seen a lot of commentary on the fact that utility-scale solar power has become the least expensive source of electricity in many places. There is more than that to be found in the data in Lazard’s Levelized Cost of Energy Analysis, Version 10.0, however, and what it tells us is that solar and wind power have benefits apart from the simple facts that their costs are low.
Durham nonprofit asks NC court to break Duke Energy’s power monopoly — News & Observer
Durham environmental advocacy group NC WARN is asking the state appeals court to break Duke Energy’s longstanding monopoly on electricity sales in the state by letting NC WARN resume selling solar-generated power directly to a Greensboro church.
Jim Warren: First, renewables; later, nuclear retirement — The News & Observer
Op-Ed by Jim Warren. The climate responds quickly to methane, so reducing emissions can slow global warming in the short term. North Carolinians must require Duke Energy to stop its massive fracked gas expansion and help avoid climate chaos.
How to fight the power company — Scalawag
In 2015, Duke Energy’s state-sanctioned monopoly in North Carolina faced a pair of very different challenges from two vastly different communities. In western North Carolina, thousands of people – mostly White, middle-class, with little organizing experience–turned out in droves to attack Duke Energy’s plans for their beloved mountains. Two hundred miles away in Greensboro, a Piedmont church – serving a mostly Black, low-income community with a history of activism and advocacy stretching back decades – simply put solar panels on its roof.
As Climate Tipping Point Nears, Duke Energy Lags Behind Other Utilities on Renewables — WCHL
Commentary by Jim Warren. Global temperatures in 2016 are near the tipping point that could cause global warming to surge forward under its own momentum. The heating is happening much faster than scientists expected even a year ago.