Press conference regarding the economic and climate damage that would results from Duke Energy’s proposed 15-year plan

RALEIGH, N.C. – Organizations concerned with ratepayer fairness, climate change and the future economic and environmental health of North Carolina call on the North Carolina Utilities Commission and public staff to reject Duke Energy’s integrated resource plan, or IRP, due to its disastrous impact on electricity rates and our climate.

Local government officials will bring a letter to the public hearing on the IRP Monday night, urging the commission to reject the IRP in light of the urgency of the climate crisis. “It is our duty and yours, as public servants,” they write, “to do everything in our power to reduce greenhouse gas emissions immediately and to keep electricity affordable.”

WHO:  Speakers will include Orange County Commissioner Mark Marcoplos, former Environmental Protection Agency Climate & International Director Dale Evarts, plus representatives from 350.org, Alliance to Protect Our People and the Places We Live, Canary Coalition, Clean Water for NC, Climate Reality, Friends of the Earth, NC Climate Solutions Coalition and Triangle People Power
WHAT:  Press conference
WHEN:  Monday, Feb. 4, 5:00 p.m.
WHERE:  On Halifax Mall, at the entrance to the North Carolina Utilities Commission, Dobbs Building, 430 N. Salisbury St., Raleigh 

Duke Energy has proposed a plan that continues to rely on coal and increases the burning of fracked gas by 18 percent over the next 15 years. Duke plans to get only 8 percent of its power from renewables in 2033, while some utilities were already over 30 percent in 2018.

Interviews available.

Contact: Steve Norris, Alliance to Protect Our People and the Places We Live, (828) 777-7816, [email protected]