The North Carolina Legislature is expected to introduce a bill Wednesday that would further chip away at the state’s climate targets.
The measure seeks to regulate data centers and address rising utility costs — and includes language that would weaken the state’s tools to address climate change, according to bill text reviewed by POLITICO’s E&E News.
The proposal, dubbed the “Ratepayer Protection Act,” also would prevent the North Carolina Utilities Commission from authorizing the retirement of a base load electric generation facility, such as a coal-fired power plant, until a nuclear plant is ready to replace the retiring generation.
The stipulation would prevent Duke Energy, the state’s largest utility, from moving forward with the planned retirements of its remaining coal-fired power plants until at least 2037, when the utility is planning to increase its nuclear capacity. Coal accounts for about 10 percent of Duke Energy’s portfolio across North and South Carolina.
