Senate advances Domestic Energy Jobs Act to stimulate energy production, job growth | Eastern NC Now

Press Release:

    Raleigh, N.C.     The North Carolina Senate tentatively passed bi-partisan legislation Tuesday to put North Carolina on a path to a robust energy sector expected to lure thousands of jobs and generate billions of dollars for the state economy.

    Senate Bill 76, the Domestic Energy Jobs Act, authorizes the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Mining and Energy Commission to begin issuing permits for shale gas exploration and development on March 1, 2015 - five months after the rules and safety standards governing the practice are mandated to be in place.

    The bill encourages early job creation and corporate investment by implementing a one percent state severance tax on shale gas resources that graduates to six percent by 2020. Revenues would be used to fund DENR's oil and gas regulatory program, create a $10 million energy planning and management fund and contribute to North Carolina's General Fund.

    The bill also replaces the state's Energy Policy Council with an Energy Jobs Council that will develop a comprehensive energy plan focused on creating new jobs.

    "North Carolina needs the jobs, and America needs the energy," said Sen. Buck Newton (R-Wilson), the bill's primary sponsor. "In the face of high unemployment and soaring energy prices, our reason for moving forward could not be more clear. Developing our state's energy sector will bring good paying, new jobs to North Carolina."

    To develop North Carolina's offshore energy resources, Senate Bill 76 authorizes Gov. Pat McCrory to negotiate a tri-state pact with the governors of Virginia and South Carolina. The pact would urge the federal government to open the East Coast for energy exploration.

    The bill also encourages the governor to work with North Carolina's Congressional delegation to advocate for state revenue-sharing from offshore energy exploration.

    Last week, the governor joined the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Governors Coalition. Earlier this month, he sent a joint letter with the governors of Virginia and South Carolina asking the Obama administration to partner on offshore energy exploration.

    "We are pleased to see Gov. McCrory joining the OCS Governors Coalition and meeting with the governors of South Carolina and Virginia to begin negotiating a tri-state offshore energy compact," said Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger (R-Rockingham)."We look forward to the House sending this job-creating bill to the governor's desk for his signature."

    Background:

    Comparisons to other locations across the Southeast suggest that North Carolina's onshore exploration sites hold a potential of up to 45 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

    North Carolina's offshore energy reserves are predicted to be mostly clean natural gas. The state has 64 million federal offshore acres, the most on the East Coast and the fourth largest acreage in the country.

    The Southeast Energy Alliance calculates that production of offshore resources would create more than 6,700 new jobs and add more than $659 million annually to North Carolina's economy over three decades.

    Senator Phil Berger
     President Pro Tempore

    (919) 733-5708
   2007 Legislative Building
   Raleigh, N.C. 27601

    Contacts: Amy Auth, (919) 301-1737     Shelly Carver, (919) 301-1744