Energy Democracy for All
Energy Democracy is local people having control of how their electricity is produced and distributed to ensure everyone has access to affordable and clean power.
Two decades into the 21st century, advances in solar panels, battery storage, modernized electric grids and other technologies are revolutionizing how our electricity can be produced and distributed. But large utility companies with monopoly control over the market — such as Duke Energy and Dominion Energy — are keeping us locked into using increasingly expensive polluting fuels like coal and fracked gas to generate our electricity.
At the same time, the increasing impacts of global climate change, including dangerous heat waves and severe storms, are taking a toll on countless communities, but especially disadvantaged communities and communities of color. And monopoly utility companies charge ever higher rates while they knowingly continue to worsen the climate crisis.
But a movement toward Energy Democracy is growing across Appalachia and throughout the country. Local individuals and groups are standing up to demand a seat at the table with decision makers to ensure we transition to a system that is affordable and fair, provides community wealth and jobs, and is built on clean, renewable energy.
Why Energy Democracy?
Learn how monopoly control and a focus on profit have locked us in a pattern of polluting fossil fuels and ever higher rates
State-Specific Info
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Latest News
Two steps forward, one step back on coal ash in N.C.
North Carolina communities impacted by coal ash celebrated two positive strides forward recently, only to be disappointed by another fast move on the part of the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality and Duke Energy that keeps too many citizens in limbo in terms of resolving polluted drinking water.
DENR is a “BOOR”
The N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources is acting like–to use its own term–a “bureaucratic object of resistance.” The agency’s creative interpretation of its mission statement is just one reflection of the McCrory administration’s broader hostility to the notion that public servants have a responsibility to protect the natural resources and therefore the public health and welfare of the Tar Heel state.
Coal Ash: It’s not just toxic, it’s radioactive!
This week, a study conducted by Duke University was published in “Environmental Science and Technology” which concluded that coal ash is more radioactive than its parent coal or soil, and that the radioactivity may exceed safe levels for human exposure.
VIDEO: “Contaminated, But Smart!”- Duke Energy’s New Coal Ash Assessment
On Monday evening, Duke Energy released the executive statement from its study assessing groundwater contamination at two of its largest coal ash sites in North Carolina. Unsurprisingly, Duke Energy’s findings suggest it is not responsible for the contamination found in the drinking water wells of over 200 households within 1,000 feet of the company’s coal ash dumps.
“It’s just vitamins!” Industry confuses residents on coal ash safety
Duke Energy and the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources continue to confound and confuse families that have the unfortunate luck of living in close proximity to the utility’s coal ash lagoons. So citizens and county officials are stepping in to help residents air their frustrations and, hopefully, to receive some answers.
Duke expands coal ash cleanup, but leaves N.C. communities in danger
Duke Energy announced it plans to excavate coal ash from ponds at three power plant sites in North Carolina, along with two more at its South Carolina facilities. But the fates of several sites that pose significant threats to drinking water and surrounding communities remain unclear.
