The North Carolina Environmental Management Commission voted 9-3-1 Tuesday to open a rulemaking to set a declining cap on power plant carbon emissions and join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI).
The commission acted on a petition for rulemaking filed by the Southern Environmental Law Center on behalf of Clean Air Carolina and the North Carolina Coastal Federation. The commission’s Air Quality Committee approved the petition in June. (See North Carolina Panel Calls for Joining RGGI.)
The petition proposes to reduce power plant emissions by 70% below 2005 levels by 2030, in line with the goal set by the Department of Environmental Quality’s 2019 Clean Energy Plan. The vote starts a regulatory process that the DEQ is expected to take about a year to complete, including a public comment period. At the end of the process, the commission will vote on whether to adopt the rule.
If approved, the state would join other RGGI states in auctioning off emission credits, with revenue from the sales used to fund energy efficiency, renewable energy and utility bill assistance programs.
Before the vote, opponents of the rulemaking, including Commissioner Charlie Carter, challenged the commission’s legal authority and argued it would increase consumers’ costs. Environmental group Friends of the Earth also opposed the petition, saying it didn’t address minority communities near pollution sources.
The petitioners said joining RGGI addressed “the immediate need to take bold, effective and efficient action to confront the climate crisis that threatens our state.”
ClearView Energy Partners said Gov. Roy Cooper (D) is believed to support the rulemaking and noted that his appointees to the commission voted in support. Clearview said Republican legislators may attempt to block the move, but that they lack the votes to overcome a veto without Democratic defections.
The Natural Resources Defense Council applauded the commission’s action. “More than a decade after several other Eastern states launched RGGI to tackle climate pollution, it is clear that it has been a highly effective and important policy,” NRDC said.
Also Tuesday, the House Energy and Public Utilities Committee approved a Republican-backed bill that would force the retirements of several Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) coal-fired generators (H.B. 951). The bill could get a vote by the full House this week. Although the bill would mandate 5,000 MW of solar, opponents say it doesn’t go far enough to decarbonize the state’s power sector. (See NC Republicans Roll out Bill to Close Coal Plants, Add Renewables.)
