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
Tell Congress: Support new power plant regulations
Our legislators need to support the EPA’s new rules to slash power plant pollution
Latest News
Seleni-what?
Most people have probably never heard of selenium, but for coal operators and fish it’s a big deal. Appalachian Voices’ water quality expert takes a moment to explain the issues surrounding this mineral — necessary in small amounts but toxic to aquatic life even at very low levels — and the EPA’s controversial attempts to regulate it.
An activist is born
An Appalachian Voices intern attends her first-ever environmental rally and finds a sense of belonging among other advocates calling for clean energy and climate action. “It’s one thing to wear the pins and stickers; it’s another thing to feel empowered by your peers to take action and work towards a common goal,” Marissa Wheeler writes.
What do Duke Energy and a messy teenager have in common?
Duke Energy has spent six months cleaning up its Dan River coal spill, the third worst in U.S. history, and got a whopping six percent removed. And now it says the job is done. North Carolinians should not accept this — no less than most parents accept their teenagers’ excuses to clean up their rooms.
Hey Duke Energy – Buy a Bigger Dump Truck!
Duke Energy and its army of lobbyists apparently have convinced N.C. lawmakers that it’s just too expensive to clean up all of its leaking coal ash dumps. The company’s argument is based on an assumption that it would take 30 years to remove the ash from JUST ONE SITE. “What??” I hear you ask incredulously. So let’s take a deeper look at that …
