A report from a renewable energy industry group fails in its goal of deflecting attention away from costs generated by North Carolina's renewable energy mandate. That's the assessment of a new John Locke Foundation Spotlight report...
Published: Saturday, June 20th, 2015 @ 4:56 am
By: John Locke Foundation
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A mandate that 12.5 percent of North Carolina's energy eventually would come from renewable sources or energy efficiency was a bad idea back in 2007, when the idea was included in Senate Bill 3
Published: Monday, June 15th, 2015 @ 1:37 pm
By: John Locke Foundation
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Two reports this week from the John Locke Foundation discuss the costly unintended consequences of state government mandates.
Published: Sunday, June 7th, 2015 @ 10:38 am
By: John Locke Foundation
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Two of three drivers of higher electricity costs in North Carolina are renewable energy investments by utilities and the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standards (REPS) mandate, according to a new report released by the North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association (NCSEA).
Published: Tuesday, June 2nd, 2015 @ 11:15 pm
By: John Locke Foundation
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In March 2015, the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources published "The Energy Report: A Snapshot of North Carolina's Energy Portfolio Seven Years After Session Law 2007-397."
Published: Tuesday, May 26th, 2015 @ 5:58 am
By: John Locke Foundation
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In two previous articles, we examined how Republican political consultants in North Carolina have pushed the agenda of Big Solar - the solar power companies and their millionaire owners - in order to protect renewable power source mandates, thus driving up electricity bills and hampering the...
Published: Saturday, May 23rd, 2015 @ 3:11 pm
By: Civitas Insitute
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An amended version of the regulatory reform bill (HB 760), sponsored by Reps. Chris Millis (R-Pender), John R. Bell IV (R-Wayne), and Dennis Riddell (R-Alamance), would make several changes that would protect electricity consumers in North Carolina from unnecessary price increases.
Published: Sunday, May 10th, 2015 @ 8:38 am
By: John Locke Foundation
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As I write this, what is turning out to possibly be the most powerful crony special interest in North Carolina is fighting to keep part of its welfare money flowing. A regulatory reform bill that reduces the amount of super expensive solar energy that North Carolina electricity users are...
Published: Friday, May 8th, 2015 @ 1:23 am
By: John Locke Foundation
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Raleigh, N.C. - Governor Pat McCrory took action on Senate Bill 372 today, which extends the tax credit for renewable energy projects in the state.
Published: Thursday, April 30th, 2015 @ 9:07 pm
By: Christopher Maye
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In part one of this series we reported on right-of-center political consultants who have created an innovative business model advising a growing number of Republican legislators to turn their backs on conservative, free-market principles to take up the cause of more government mandates...
Published: Tuesday, April 28th, 2015 @ 8:03 pm
By: Civitas Insitute
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The House on Tuesday approved a Senate bill that would extend the state's 35 percent renewable energy tax credit - set to expire at the end of 2015 - by one year to allow several major solar farms to hook up to the power grid. Over five years, the solar companies could collect as much as...
Published: Tuesday, April 28th, 2015 @ 5:49 pm
By: John Locke Foundation
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Renewable energy lobbyists wailed that the mere appearance of a bill to repeal North Carolina's renewable energy portfolio standards mandate "dramatically disrupts" investment and jobs in renewable energy and "sends shock waves" through the industry.
Published: Monday, April 27th, 2015 @ 7:19 pm
By: John Locke Foundation
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What do President Barack Obama and a growing number of Republicans in the North Carolina General Assembly have in common? The answer - their love of major solar energy companies - Big Solar, for short.
Published: Thursday, April 23rd, 2015 @ 4:45 am
By: Civitas Insitute
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House Republicans are taking another whack at ending subsidies attached to government-mandated purchases of renewable energy. House Bill 681 would require solar and other "green" power to compete with traditional fuel sources in the government-regulated electricity industry and determine the energy
Published: Saturday, April 18th, 2015 @ 12:19 pm
By: John Locke Foundation
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There is currently a bill in the legislature, introduced and sponsored by Representative Chris Millis, that would phase out North Carolina's coercive renewable energy mandates, which were passed in 2007. At the present time, North Carolina requires that utility companies provide 12.5 percent of...
Published: Friday, April 17th, 2015 @ 8:27 pm
By: John Locke Foundation
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The Senate Finance Committee on April 2 approved a bill with bipartisan support to extend by one year eligibility for the state's 35 percent renewable energy tax credit. The legislation is intended to provide "a soft landing " to large solar projects already in the regulatory approval and...
Published: Monday, April 13th, 2015 @ 8:11 pm
By: John Locke Foundation
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In 2013, RTI International teamed with LaCapra Associates to report on "The Economic, Utility Portfolio, and Rate Impact of Clean Energy Development in North Carolina." Prepared for the North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association (NCSEA), the report made fantastic findings that North Carolina's...
Published: Sunday, April 5th, 2015 @ 2:03 am
By: John Locke Foundation
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A new study this week estimated that North Carolina's Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standards (RPS) has increased electricity costs by $276 million, and that the bulk of those costs are concentrated on commercial electricity consumers and residential consumers...
Published: Tuesday, March 24th, 2015 @ 12:03 am
By: John Locke Foundation
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North Carolina's law mandating electric utilities to increase their use of renewable energy sources has caused the loss of nearly 24,000 jobs, $14.4 billion in forgone personal income, and will boost ratepayers' annual bills by $149 million.
Published: Sunday, March 22nd, 2015 @ 6:51 am
By: John Locke Foundation
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As the legislature comes back into session, there is a renewed focus on what are typically referred to as economic incentives, or by many who are more skeptical of such programs, corporate welfare or simply cronyism. Programs that are and will continue to be debated are subsidies to...
Published: Tuesday, January 27th, 2015 @ 9:23 pm
By: John Locke Foundation
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There's a corner in my house that is highly attractive to cats. In a few short years, this place has gone from somewhere no cat would ever be seen to an area heavily visited by kitties. One might describe this spot as an Emerging Leader in Cat Corners.
Published: Saturday, January 17th, 2015 @ 10:10 pm
By: John Locke Foundation
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The 2015 session of the N.C. General Assembly convenes this month. Republicans again have supermajorities in both chambers, holding 74 of the 120 House seats and 34 of the 50 Senate seats.
Published: Wednesday, January 7th, 2015 @ 3:48 pm
By: John Locke Foundation
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From a report filed early Saturday by WRAL-TV news, we have confirmation that a cluster of businesses owned by Democratic U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan's husband and other family members collected even more subsidies from taxpayers than initially reported. While Carolina Journal's Don Carrington has...
Published: Saturday, October 25th, 2014 @ 11:10 pm
By: John Locke Foundation
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Governor Pat McCrory and N.C. Commerce Secretary Sharon Decker announced today that Harvest Garden Pro, LLC a division of Harvest Power, Inc. is planning to locate its division headquarters in Iredell County, creating 33 jobs and investing approximately $120,000 over the next three years in Mooresvi
Published: Saturday, October 4th, 2014 @ 10:12 am
By: Chris Downey
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A new poll released by the North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association shows strong support from North Carolinians for more renewable energy. That's the story.
Published: Monday, June 2nd, 2014 @ 2:08 pm
By: John Locke Foundation
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Freshman state Rep. Dana Bumgardner of Gastonia and longtime Gaston County Commissioner Michael Allen "Mickey" Price of Belmont have similar platforms on education, tax reform, Medicaid, teacher tenure, and merit pay for teachers.
Published: Monday, May 5th, 2014 @ 4:20 am
By: John Locke Foundation
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North Carolina consumers would have saved $4.2 billion since 2007 if mandates on electric power utilities to purchase expensive renewable energy had not driven costs well above the U.S. average, said a nationally recognized energy and environmental policy analyst.
Published: Wednesday, April 23rd, 2014 @ 2:45 pm
By: John Locke Foundation
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Earl Jones wants to win back the North Carolina House District 60 seat he lost four years ago, but will have to defeat Cecil Brockman, a campaign strategist who helped to oust him from the General Assembly, and David Small, a youthful small business owner.
Published: Wednesday, April 23rd, 2014 @ 2:20 am
By: John Locke Foundation
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A leading opponent of building a major wind energy facility in Carteret County says it was a tourism-depressing, jobs-killing project that was defeated in spite of, not because of, a state law passed last year to regulate environmental impacts and avoid adverse health effects of...
Published: Friday, February 28th, 2014 @ 1:05 pm
By: John Locke Foundation
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North Carolina's renewable energy portfolio standards (RPS) survived an attempt to cap and end the mandate last year as crony politics won out over protection of poor ratepayers.
Published: Saturday, February 15th, 2014 @ 12:47 pm
By: John Locke Foundation
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Beaufort County is in a unnique position where it desperately needs the the Pantego Wind Energy Project to come into fruition, or be damned to tax its citizens exorbitantly.
Published: Wednesday, January 22nd, 2014 @ 11:43 am
By: Stan Deatherage
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In January 2011, Thom Tillis was elected speaker of the state House. In March, 2011, it hit the media that House leaders were attempting to kill a conservative-promoted measure to eliminate the state's "renewable energy" mandate.
Published: Thursday, November 21st, 2013 @ 11:26 am
By: Brant Clifton
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One of the more irritating features of popular political discourse involves the common problem of pundits and prognosticators fixating on a single fact or data point while ignoring broader, more important issues.
Published: Friday, August 23rd, 2013 @ 12:02 pm
By: John Locke Foundation
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Energy issues have been in the headlines recently, and this column compiles them. Here's a question to think about before starting: What if someone discovered
Published: Friday, August 9th, 2013 @ 12:37 am
By: John Locke Foundation
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