Gov. Stein deliberates bill to eliminate North Carolina’s 2030 climate target (WFAE)

A bill on Gov. Josh Stein’s desk would eliminate Duke Energy’s 2030 carbon pollution reduction goal. Supporters of Senate Bill 266, or “The Power Bill Reduction Act,” in the General Assembly say it would lower electricity rates, but environmental advocates and clean energy trade groups disagree.

Every two years, state regulators approve Duke Energy’s plan to build infrastructure and meet North Carolina’s energy and climate targets. Current law requires the utility to cut carbon emissions by 70% by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

The bill also changes how Duke Energy recovers its costs of building large infrastructure projects, such as nuclear power plants. Sustain Charlotte’s Shannon Binns said those changes would put ratepayers on the hook for incomplete projects, citing examples such as South Carolina’s abandoned V.C. Summer nuclear plant and Georgia’s Plant Vogtle, which experienced years of costly delays while constructing new units.