AMID CONTROVERSY, 1ST SOUTHERN RPS NEARS REALITY

Considering how staunchly the southern politicians in the pockets of the Big Utilities always fight national RPS initiatives, this is a big breakthrough.

Energy bill OK’d in house; Measure promotes conservation and more use of renewable power
James Romoser, August 1, 2007 (Winston-Salem Journal)

WHO
North Carolina’s General Assembly, electric utilities Duke Energy and Progress Energy, North Carolina environmentalists

North Carolina's wind resources. Not significantly more than several other southern states still resisting renewables development. (click to enlarge)

WHAT
Breaking the stranglehold of conservatives on the energy future of the solid south, a controversial version of the Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) won final approval from the state’s General Assembly. North Carolina’s RPS requires privately held utilities to produce 12.5% of their electricity from renewable energies or conservation measures by 2021(but allows cooperatives and public utilities a lower standard and more time).

WHEN
Measure passed August 1.

WHERE
This is now a North Carolina law, passed in Raliegh, the capital city.

WHY
- The RPS measure has already been approved by the N.C. Senate. Minor differences remaining in the 2 houses’ energy bills are expected to be ironed out and Gov. Mike Easley is expected to quickly sign on.
- Residential electric rates may increase up to $10/year in 2008 and $34/year in 2015.
The controversy is due to a compromise worked out by legislators to get the bill through. - Along with the RPS is a measure allowing North Carolina’s private utilities, Duke Energy and Progress Energy, to finance new coal-burning and nuclear power plants by billing customers while the plants are built.
- The NY Times has reported similar compromise allowances to big utilities in national RPS legislation.
- The allowances are seen as facilitating the building of nuclear and coal-fired plants by shifting the risk and expense away from big financiers and onto electricity consumers. Duke and Progress, who pushed the compromise, say it will benefit consumers by keeping supply high and therefore cheaper. Opponents are aware of the controversy and environmentalists’ ire but accepted compromise as a political necessity.
- Environmentalists also expressed concern about the harmful effects of energy produced from animal waste. Legislation restricting those effects is in the works.

North Carolina landfills. Where there is a landfill, there is the possibility of biomass energy. (click to enlarge)

QUOTES
- Molly Diggins, director, N.C. Sierra Club: “It speaks to the terrible economics of new nuclear that it seems to need such massive public subsidies…”
- Rep. Cullie Tarleton, D-Watauga: “Unless we get a bill in place, unless we get a base laid down, nothing’s going to happen…”
- Diggins: “Some of those (swine-waste) systems can be used to produce energy, but they also produce ammonia, odor, water-quality problems and pathogens. So we’re at a crossroads..”