North Carolina is number five in solar, but that huge success is under attack in Raleigh. Photo by SEIA.

Despite job creation directly linked to North Carolina’s burgeoning clean energy industry, the state’s modest renewable energy standard continues to be targeted by lawmakers.

The “Affordable and Reliable Energy Act,” which narrowly passed the House Commerce Committee, would warp the state renewable energy portfolio standard into a shadow of the law created with bipartisan support and the backing of the state’s largest electric utilities in 2007.

According to a study by RTI International and La Capra Associates, the state’s renewable standard has led to a net gain of over 20,000 clean energy jobs even while more than 100,000 jobs were lost in the N.C. economy during the same five years. The state’s clean energy investment has created a net revenue of $113 million since 2007, while the total economic benefit of clean energy over the past five years was $1.7 billion.

Investors are listening up and jumping on board, too, as clean energy investment has grown 13-fold over the past five years in North Carolina, resulting in an estimated 8.2 million megawatts being saved through renewable energy and energy efficiency projects. Additionally, it is estimated that state government energy efficiency programs have saved $427 million in taxpayer money.

Solar energy has soared in North Carolina due to the REPS. The state is fifth in the nation in solar installed and is projected to reach number four by this year, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association. Out of the 30 utility-scale solar projects in the Southeast in 2012, 21 were in North Carolina.

Those benefits could be cut short if the tunnel vision that has taken over North Carolina politics prevails.