EVENT
March 16, 17 & 18: North Carolina Carbon Plan hearings
North Carolina families deserve clean air, safe water, and affordable clean energy. But for too long, companies like Duke Energy have gotten away with polluting our communities and charging us too much for electricity. It’s time to come together to build a clean energy system for our state that cuts pollution and leaves dirty fossil fuels behind.
State legislators enacted the Carbon Plan in 2021 to serve as a roadmap for Duke Energy to meet the state’s future energy needs while reducing carbon emissions. Since then, North Carolina regulators have let Duke Energy dictate the Carbon Plan’s terms and every two years, the utility is required to update it. In March, the state will hold public hearings on Duke Energy’s 2026 Carbon Plan, which predictably falls short in protecting our communities and the environment by doubling down on expensive methane gas.
We need your participation in these hearings to help create a clean energy future in North Carolina! Sign up to attend!
The 2026 edition of Duke’s Carbon Plan predictably falls short in protecting our communities and the environment in many ways. Additionally, the state legislature passed a law last year that allows Duke Energy to bypass a 2030 deadline to meet a 70% reduction in carbon pollution.
North Carolina
Carbon Plan
Hearings
Monday, March 16,
at 6:30 p.m.
Online
Tuesday, March 17,
at 7 p.m.
Asheville
Buncombe County Courthouse
60 Court Plaza
Asheville, NC 28801
Wednesday, March 18,
5:30 p.m.: Carbon Plan rally
7 p.m.: Carbon Plan hearing
Charlotte
Mecklenberg County Courthouse
832 E 4th St.
Charlotte, NC 28202
Some of the most egregious aspects with Duke’s Carbon Plan involve:
- Canceling previous plans for offshore wind due to the federal administration targeting offshore wind projects.
- Asking again to build large methane gas power plants that regulators already denied — plus even more smaller gas plants
- At the same time, Duke still doesn’t have a real plan for using hydrogen energy and is pointing to untested ideas for capturing and storing pollution from burning gas at power plants
- Keeping some coal power plants open longer, instead of closing them sooner.
- Even though NC law still requires Duke Energy to be net zero by 2050, Duke’s modeling doesn’t account for that goal. When the model is adjusted to include the 2050 target, it recommends more clean energy rather than methane gas.
- Predicting a lot of big energy users (like data centers) are coming, without showing what energy demand growth is realistic and what is wildly speculative. The lack of clarity and detail here means Duke could be asking customers to pay for far more energy generation than needed
- Limiting programs that could help customers save energy and lower bills — programs that would reduce the amount of energy Duke needs to generate.
Despite this, we won’t stop fighting for affordable clean energy in North Carolina. That means holding Duke Energy accountable and telling the North Carolina Utilities Commission we don’t want electricity from expensive fossil fuels that lock us into decades of more pollution and higher electric bills. Sign up to attend a NCUC Carbon Plan hearing to let regulators know that you want affordable clean energy!
If you are interested in speaking at one of the hearings, our partners at Citizens Climate Lobby have curated some resources for you to use.