North Carolina lawmakers have been frantically filing legislation in the House and Senate so that bills can be considered before May 13, the deadline for a bill to be approved in one chamber and cross over to the other. The Rules and Operations of the Senate committee alone has 550 bills waiting to be advanced along the legislative process.
Three recently filed bills focus on climate change and show the divisions the issue continues to trigger within the legislature. Two seek to move North Carolina toward reaching net zero by 2050, as set out in Gov. Roy Cooper (D)’s 2018 Executive Order 80 and the state’s 2019 Clean Energy Plan. The third would try to erase all of the state’s clean energy work by repealing the Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard (REPS).
Republicans control the House and Senate, but Cooper has veto power, so the path forward for climate policy remains rocky. The two clean energy bills are among the backlog waiting for a hearing in the Senate Rules and Operations committee. Also facing the crossover deadline, the bill repealing renewable standards is in the House, waiting to be heard by the Energy and Public Utilities subcommittee.
Turning the Clean Energy Plan into Law
Democratic Sens. Wiley Nickel and Michael Garrett introduced Senate Bill 702, which would codify the state’s net zero target into law. The bill states that “it shall be the goal of the State that 100% of the total sales of electricity in North Carolina shall be generated from renewable energy resources by December 31, 2050.”
Nickel and Garrett filed the same bill during the 2019-2020 legislative session, but Senate Republicans blocked it. In a Facebook post in 2019, Nickel said that the bill “provides a great example of the legislation that I will advance in the Senate when we flip four seats to take the majority in 2020.”
That flip didn’t materialize. In 2018, the Senate was split 29 Republicans to 21 Democrats. Democrats picked up only one seat in 2020, which means the bill could face the same fate this session.
Taxing Polluters
Another Nickel effort, Senate Bill 674, would impose a carbon tax. The bill would require every seller of carbon-based fuel to pay a tax on any product that is sold, used or imported into the state, with 90% of the proceeds going to reduce consumers’ utility bills. For the 2022 calendar year, the tax would be $20 per metric ton of carbon, increasing by $5 every year until the tax reaches $50. California’s cap and trade program currently charges about $17 per metric ton of carbon emissions. In addition to California, only 11 other states have some form of carbon pricing through participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), which two North Carolina groups have petitioned for the state to join.
Charging polluters for carbon emissions is one of the policies examined in a recent report by researchers at Duke University and the University of North Carolina on how to decarbonize the state’s electricity sector. Placing a premium price on carbon emissions from generation was one of the policies that could allow North Carolina to meet its goal of reducing emissions by 70% below 2005 levels by 2030. In addition, the researchers found that joining a carbon market such as RGGI was one of the most cost-effective ways for the state to reach its targets. (See Study Says NC Needs Clean Energy Standard to Meet Climate Goals.)
Rolling Back Renewables
Moving in the opposite direction of Nickel’s proposed legislation, five Republican representatives have introduced House Bill 529, which would repeal the state REPS, removing requirements for utilities and cooperatives to reach a certain percentage of renewable sales through generation or improving energy efficiency. This bill was first introduced in 2013, six years after the REPS was adopted. At least one lawmaker, Rep. George Cleveland, was a sponsor on both bills.
Claiming that the standards are increasing energy costs for ratepayers, the bill takes out any mention of the REPS in the statute, replacing it with a statement that the policy of North Carolina is to “promote the development of the lowest cost electric power that will promote economic growth by providing public utilities the choice to use any type of energy resource free of State interference or control.”
After this bill was introduced in 2013, the Institute for Southern Studies found that many of the sponsors were backed by the American Legislative Exchange Council, a group that connects corporate representatives with state lawmakers to push conservative policies. Industries have influenced other North Carolina bills, most recently a bill backed by the gas industry that would prevent municipalities from banning natural gas hookups in new construction, an initiative aimed at forestalling the transition to building electrification. That bill has passed the House and is waiting to be considered by a Senate subcommittee. (See Gas Industry Brings Fight Against Building Electrification to NC.)