August 27, 2025 • 35 mins
The NC General Assembly met but took no action on either the stalled state budget or pending vetoes. Duke Energy announced it will no longer pursue offshore wind energy projects in the state. Governor Stein has created a new energy task force aimed at lowering utility rates while promoting renewable energy. Meanwhile, the State Board of Elections reports correcting over 20,000 voter records while continuing to collect additional ID numbers.
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Speaker 1 (00:08):
It's five h two and welcome into a Wednesday edition
of the Carolina Journal News Our new Stock eleven, ten
ninety nine three WBT. I'm Nick Craig. Good morning to
you will. The North Carolina Legislature gaveled in for a
brief session on Tuesday. However, we learn that lawmakers will
not be holding any votes either today or Thursday, as
(00:30):
they still have yet to reach an agreement on a
budget and have not been able to convince any Democrats,
at least in the House to come across the aisle
and support any additional veto overrides. Both the House and
Senate chambers, for the most part, were pretty much empty
yesterday what is also known as a skeleton session because
most legislators and lawmakers were told that they did not
(00:52):
need to make the trip to Raleigh as there would
not be any votes this week. That means that lawmakers
will likely not take any of a further additional action
until late September at the earliest. That is the next
time that they've got any sessions scheduled up at the
General Assembly. So with that, after adjourney in there a
July session, the legislature did schedule a couple of brief
(01:15):
monthly sessions through the remainder of the year. However, as
we learned yesterday seeing the picture and video of the
House Chamber, just a handful like three or four members
of the General Assembly in Raleigh yesterday in the House,
a couple in the Senate as well. Still dealing again
with the budget some other veto overrides. As it stands
(01:35):
right now, WI folks are going to have to wait
until at least September for some of those actions to
be taken. We'll continue to attract the details behind the scenes.
If we learn anything more about the budget or potentially
some of those veto overrides, will pass those details over
to you on our website, to Carolina Journal dot com,
and of course right here on the Carolina Journal News Hour.
(01:56):
Turning our attention to some other statewide news this morning warning.
In a recent letter to the North Carolina Utilities Commission,
Duke Energy shared a report containing research supporting the idea
that offshore wind energy production is not currently the most reliable,
cost effective energy source, and with that the company would
(02:18):
not be issuing requests for proposals or RFPs to pursue
these projects moving forward. Duke was acting in compliance with
the Utilities Commission directives to complete an acquisition request for information,
which gathered detailed market data from three wind energy area
(02:39):
lease holders off the North Carolina Coast. Those companies are
known as Avona Grid Power LLC, Synergy Corp, and Total
Energies Carolina Long Bay LLC, who together submitted eight offshore
wind development project proposals over the last few years. The
(02:59):
report IDEA identifies several new factors adding to uncertainty over
the future of offshore wind development. They include President Donald
Trump's January the twentieth executive memorandum halting new offshore win
leasing and requiring a review of federal permitting for existing projects,
provisions also in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that
(03:22):
restrict federal tax credit eligibility for both wind and solar facilities,
as well as Trump's July seventh executive order directing the
Treasury Secretary to revoke those tax credits, as well as
broader risks such as geopolitical tensions, trade tariffs affecting critical
supply chains, and other movements from the federal government. John Sanders,
(03:47):
who is the director of the Center for Food, Power
and Life at the John Locke Foundation, told the Carolina
Journal in a statement dealing with this quote, Duke's of filling.
Duke's filing rather reinforces what we have shown for years.
Offshore wind is a very expensive source of electricity. Even
(04:07):
with the Carolina Carbon Plan, it is prohibitally expensive, telling
the Carolina Journal, now that the legislature has passed the
Power Bill Reduction Act, getting rid of the Carbon Plan's
interm goal of seventy percent reduction of CO two emissions
by twenty thirty, our power grid more can rely more
(04:29):
on reliability, on demand natural gas power plants to complete
the transition to zero emission nuclear, rather than being forced
to get power from expensive, unreliable, weather dependent sources like
wind and solar. So here's some of the background on it.
Back in twenty twenty one, the House Built nine point
(04:49):
fifty one was signed into law as a bipartisan energy
bill with regulatory guard rails of prioritizing reliability and least
cost energy generation while pursuing then at the time, a
former Governor, Roy Cooper is a carbon reduction goals. The
twenty twenty three Carolina Resource Plan, which was Duke Energy's
(05:11):
long term strategy to meet future energy needs evaluated offshore
wind as one potential option in a growingly diverse energy
portfolio to support Carolina's growth. Following a July twenty twenty
four settlement with stakeholders and a directive from the North
Carolina Utilities Commission, on November one of last year, Duke
(05:34):
Energy issued an acquisition request for information to those three
entities holding federal offshore wind leases off the North Carolina coast.
The companies again Amvagrid, which was dealing with some development
up in the Kittyhawk area, as well as Total Energies
and Energy, which are both a non Duke related subsidiaries
(05:59):
for the Care Carolina Long Day Track off the coast
of southeastern North Carolina in Wilmington and Brunswick County. The
AFRII that request for information, released on January twenty ninth
of this year, sought information for up to two thousand,
four hundred megawatts of offshore wind by twenty thirty five,
(06:21):
including confidential pricing details to assess whether offshore wind could
be a least cost reliable source. The process, which was
overseen by an independent evaluator a power advisor to ensure fairness,
transparency and confidentiality, was non binding, and spanned several months.
(06:42):
Results were filed with regulators back on August the eleventh
and confirmed that offshore wind is not currently economically viable
as a least cost option. Consistent with the North Carolina
Utilities Commission November twenty twenty four order, Duke and Energy
will not produce any of the three sites at this time.
(07:04):
A conclusion also was that similar conclusion was also supported
by an independent evaluator. Nevertheless, the data gathered through the
AFRI will inform Duke Energy's twenty twenty five Carolina's Resource Plan,
which is scheduled for filing a little bit later on
this year, coming up on October the first, and will
(07:26):
guide future long term planning considerations for the utility. Bill Norton,
who is a spokesperson for Duke Energy, told The Carolina
Journal the AFRI process determined that offshore wind is not
cost competitive at this time, so no request for proposal
or RFE will be issued. This decision is supported by
(07:49):
the independent evaluator that oversaw the proceedings. Nonetheless, the evaluation
process provided a valuable project, cost and scheduled data that
will inform long term planning assumptions for the Carolina resource Plan,
which is set to be filed later this year. The
Power Advisory collaborated with the Utilities Commissioned Staff to establish
(08:13):
a reference price, which was used as a benchmark for
determining whether offshore wind generation is currently cost effective compared
to other available sources, things like natural gas. The development
of the reference price is crucial as it determines the
cost benchmark used to evaluate offshore wind According to a
(08:35):
report from the John Locke Foundation, the context is crucial
because the AFRII report occurred before the July twenty ninth
passage of the Power Bill Reduction Act, also in the
known as Senate Bill two sixty six. That legislation which
removed the Carbon Plan's interm targets of reducing CO two
(08:57):
emissions from electricity by seventy percent by twenty thirty. The
targeted disproportionality shaped of shaped the Utilities commission resource modeling,
and if left in place, would have imposed an additional
thirteen billion dollar burden on state ratepayers. John Sanders of
(09:18):
the John Locke Foundation noted not having to worry about
wind facilities being built off the shore of North Carolina
is good news for reasons other than cost to electrical consumers.
It removes a serious threat to the coast's two biggest industries,
fishing and tourism, and a deadly one to critically endangered whales,
(09:39):
sea turtles and other marine creatures alongside birds. It means
military training exercises won't be comproised and mariner and mariners
won't be endangered by marine a vessel radar interference. Finally,
remember the ecological damage brought about by just one broken
windmill turn bind braid from the Vineyard wind facility. It
(10:03):
means that there won't be eight hundred and seventy six
turbine blades sitting in North Carolina's uniquely hurk uniquely hurricane waters.
Talking about recent hurricanes like Aaron, to Florence, Helene, and others,
which were up there with Florida as coastal waters and
most frequently visited by hurricanes, John Sanders recently had a
(10:26):
report called The Big Blow. That report looked at offshore
wind development and did raise some serious concerns about the
potential impacts beyond cost and reliability. In his research, he
found that the projects have not demonstrated clear economic or
environmental benefits for the state and may prevent significant challenges
(10:48):
moving forward. According to the report, high construction and operating
costs could increase energy burdens for residents already facing energy poverty,
with him As estimating that the cost of building eight
gigawatts of offshore wind capacity in North Carolina would range
between a wopping fifty five and seventy one billion dollars.
(11:13):
It also cautions that offshore wind development could affect coastal industries,
including commercial fishing and beach tourism. The report states that
turbine arrays and lightning may alter the natural landscape, with
the planned structures becoming the tallest artificial features along the
North Carolina coast. Environmental concerns are also highlighted. The report
(11:38):
points to the risks for endangered speeches such as the
North Atlantic right whale, with looking at that there was
a record number of those deaths of the right whale
in twenty twenty four near offshore wind developments in areas
of Virginia, New Jersey, and North Carolina. It also raises
(11:58):
questions about nashal security, maritime safety risks, and the long
term disposal of turbine blades, which as we know, can
be very difficult to recycle. It also suggests that this
could create a create lasting waste management challenges. There is
a lot of moving pieces in this, some new directives
(12:20):
from the administration, changes to North Carolina state law, as
well as mandates from the North Carolina Utility Commission. We've
got links to all of those sources, including that recent
report from John Sanders on offshore wind. All of that
is linked up on our website this morning, Carolina Journal
dot com. You can head on over there the headline
(12:41):
story Duke Nix's offshore wind energy. You can read those
details again on our website, Carolina Journal dot com. It's
five twenty two. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News
our news stock eleven ten ninety nine THREEBT. Continuing our
discussion of energy this morning. Yesterday, on Tuesday, Governor Josh
(13:06):
Stein announced the creation of the North Carolina Energy Policy
Task Force. He did that through an executive order, with
the Governor saying it will aim at a strengthening the
electrical infrastructure and energy affordability in the state of North Carolina,
while pushing for renewable energy sources like solar. In a
(13:28):
press release, the governor said, quote, North Carolina is a
leader in the clean energy economy and his home to
more than one hundred thousand clean energy jobs. I am
grateful for this task force helping it to determine how
our state can build on this economic momentum, meet growing
energy demands, and ensure energy and ensure electricity is affordable
(13:52):
for North Carolinians. Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Red Wilson,
as well as state Representative Kyle Hall, the Republican out
of Stokes County, will co chair the twenty six member
task force. Stein, a Democrat, noted that North Carolina is
the third fastest growing state in the country with a
(14:13):
rapidly growing manufacturing base. He told folks yesterday that since
he took office, four point nine billion dollars in new
investments and more than fifteen thousand new jobs have been
announced from clean energy and clean technology companies, including Jet Zero,
which plans to manufacture high efficiency, low emission aircraft, as
(14:37):
well as another company company known as Boyvet Solar, which
is building a facility up in Greenville, North Carolina. In addition,
Stein mentioned that in January he launched Energy Saver and C,
an initiative to promote energy efficiency that provides rebates to
households that install an energy efficient appliances, approve home insulation,
(15:02):
or upgrade their electrical systems. The governor also said that
as the use of the energy intensive data centers that
a lot of that being used for AI or artificial intelligence,
and other highly intensive computing purposes increase, the need for
electrical power will place an additional demand on the state's
(15:23):
energy grid, noting that that in turn may lead to
higher utility bills for families. One of those is a
new ten billion dollar Amazon AI center that is planned
for Richmond County customers. Consumer advocates like Clark Howard have
said that consumers in states with monopoly power providers will
(15:44):
likely see the burden of high prices due to the
increased demand from data centers, not industrial users. The state's
regulatory bodies, Howard said, are shifting the cost burden directly
to the consumers, which means higher bills even if some
use the same amount of power they have in previous years.
(16:05):
A paper from Harvard Electrical Law Initiative concurs with Clark
Howard's statements. Stein was critical in his press release of
President Trump's One Big, Beautiful Bill Act, which he said
repealed key components of the Inflation Reduction Act of twenty
twenty two, ending access to many energy in manufacturing tax
(16:27):
credits for North Carolina businesses. The governor noted that former
President Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act led to more than
twenty four billion dollars in clean energy investments across the state.
According to the governor, the combination of the Big Beautiful
Bill and the General Assembly's Senate Bill two sixty six,
(16:48):
also known as the Power Bill Reduction Act, will mean
higher cost for families and threaten up to five fifty
thousand future jobs. Senate bill was vetoed by Democrat Governor
Josh Stein. Fortunately, the Republican led legislature overrode that veto,
which is projected to save consumers across North Carolina some
(17:12):
fifteen billion dollars by eliminating costly compliance measures. John Sanders,
who is the director of the Center for Food, Power
and Life at the John Locke Foundation, said that he
would welcome the governor the governor joining John Locke the
John Locke Foundation's push to keep North Carolina's electrical grid
(17:33):
reliable while also keeping the prices for electricity low. He said, however,
that the governor is going about it all wrong. Quote. First,
you don't keep costs down by shifting them from electrical
bills to tax bills. Second, as we've learned from the
Soviet Union, you don't put the economy under the direction
(17:53):
of an executive government committee and expect growth. And third,
even if the governor worries about fuel costs, he should
know that there are many costs to electricity generating facilities
other than fuel, including capital costs, procurement, operations, maintenance, and
utility portfolios. Sanders continued by saying that new facilities are
(18:17):
more expensive to electrical consumers than pre existing ones and
advocates for utilities to overbuild high cost, unreliable, weather dependent,
zero fuel cost solar and wind facilities, which would in
fact spike electrical costs and cripple electrical reliability. Sanders told
(18:38):
The Carolina Journal Stein wants to preserve what he calls
the clean energy economy, but that name gives away the game.
It's not good for the state's economy as a whole.
It's only good for one particular segment of the state's economy,
and he's packing this committee with its advocates. According to
(19:00):
other commentary from that quote, shamefully Stein confuses a weather
with climate and even attempts to blame Hurricane Helene on
climate change, as if North Carolina was responsible for the
hurricane by not having his preferred portfolio of power generation sources.
As doctor Stephen Mkunan to President Barack Obama's under secretary
(19:24):
for Science in the US Department of Energy put it,
quote pointing to hurricanes as examples of the ravage of
human claused climate change is at best unconvincing and at
worst plainly dishonest end quote there from John Sanders. The
task Force will submitted annual report to the Governor, the
(19:45):
General Assembly, and the North Carolina Utilities Commission, as well
as the North Carolina Rule Electrification Authority, and it will
also be made available to the public. There are a
lot of discussions going on not only here in North Carolina,
but really across the country, as there was a significant
push over the last couple of years to really harp
(20:07):
on solar and win energy as major forms of electrical generation.
The studies have come out, the data is in showing
that wind and solar are incredibly unreliable and very expensive
sources of electricity. Here in North Carolina. The General Assembly
making some changes to state law, predominantly passing and overriding
(20:31):
Senate Bill two sixty six repealing some interm carbon reduction
goals that were set to take place in twenty thirty, which,
as I noted, is projected to save consumers some fifteen
billion dollars over the next decade or two. You can
read additional details on this new task force being set
(20:51):
up by Governor Josh Stein over on our website, Carolina
Journal dot com. That story's headline, Stein creates Energy task
Force with focus on lower rates. However, renewable energy. That's
over on our website at Carolina Journal dot com. It's
(21:14):
five thirty seven. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News
our newstock eleven ten ninety nine to three WBT. The
North Carolina General Assembly briefly convened in Raleigh yesterday. However,
lawmakers took no votes, and reports are they remained deadlocked
on the state budget. Both the House and Senate chambers,
which gaveled in shortly after noon yesterday, were largely empty
(21:38):
after legislators were told that they did not need to
travel to Raleigh this week for votes. With that, it
means likely no further action is expected until late September,
the next calendar dates for votes out of the ga
Since adjourney in July, the legislature has scheduled monthly sessions
throughout the rest of the year. However, it does not
(22:01):
immediately remain clear this morning whether those dates will be
skeleton sessions like we saw yesterday where there was just
a handful of lawmakers in each of the chambers, or
whether all of the lawmakers will make it back and
actually vote this week. Lawmakers are also not attempting to
override vetos of Governor Josh Stein's various of bills that
(22:23):
he did veto throughout the last month or so, and
remain deadlocked on an agreement for a budget for the
fiscal year, which began back on July the first. The
stalemate is of something that we continue to track in
details that we continue to follow here on the Carolina
Journal News Hour. Important to note neither Senate Leader Phil
(22:44):
Berger nor House Speaker Destin Hall we're leading either of
the chambers this week, and they lawmakers are expected, at
least a few of them, are going to be back
on Thursday, once again likely to be the same thing,
a skeleton session, no vote schedule for that we will
keep our eye on those details over on our website
to Carolina Journal dot com. In some other news this morning.
(23:08):
As many public school districts kick off the traditional calendar
year this week, new research from the University of North
Carolina at Greensboro is showing the importance of physical activity
in producing a better academic achievement. Researchers from a UNCG
found that a burst of physical activity in the classroom
(23:30):
may be enough to boost children's performance on standardized tests. Specifically,
the report found that giving students roughly nine minutes of
high intensity interval exercise immediately before testing did produce measurable
gains on standardized measures of verbal comprehension. The study, published
(23:52):
in the Journal of Psychology of Sport and Exercise, involved
twenty five children between the ages of nine and two twelve,
and compared three conditions a nine minute interval exercise routine
that can be done in place modern intensity cycling, and
seeded rest. According to the lead author, an assistant professor
(24:14):
at UNCG, Professor Eric Dortel, quote, in the classroom, you
have teachers that say let's take a let's take a
movement break to get focused again. We know that that's
a case that analydotically has happened in classrooms, but we
hadn't put any science to it. To replicate what teachers
might have might realistically do during a lesson, researchers designed
(24:37):
a short sequence of activities that require no special equipment
high knees, jumping jacks, lunges, and air squads. Students performed
each exercise for thirty seconds, followed by thirty seconds of rest,
for a total of about nine minutes. After the exercise
session and after the comparison sessions of psycho or seeded
(25:01):
rest on separate days, students completed a cognitive test that
measured verbal comprehension when the same child engaged in high
intensity interval exercises immediately prior to the testing. The scores
on the verbal comprehension measure were significantly higher than they
were had they been seated beforehand, according to the study.
(25:24):
Other folks within the study co authors also said that
the findings prove evidence that even in a short, single
bout of movement can have a meaningful benefit for cognitive performance.
In the release from UNCG reads, this research provides us
with valuable insight into the potential for single, short periods
(25:46):
of exercise to benefit children's cognitive performance. These findings may
have important implications for teachers who are incorporating movement breaks
into their classrooms and who might then see a benefit
of their students' academic performance. The study also looked beyond
test scores to see what was happening in students' brains.
(26:08):
Those conducting the study used a variety of research to
measure neurological signals known as error related negatives, which appear
when people make mistakes. According to the researchers, higher ERN
amplitudes are associated with increased fixation on making an error
(26:30):
or making a mistake, which can distract from the overall's
task performance. The UNCG team observed a decrease in the
ERN after the interval exercise condition, suggesting that the short
workout made errors less distracting and may have helped students
respond more effectively when in fact they did make mistakes.
(26:52):
It's a very interesting study. We've got it over on
our website this morning, Carolina Journal dot com. That story's
headline brief class that room exercises before tests improve scores.
UNCG study fines. You can read those details again over
on our website Carolina Journal dot com. It's now five
point forty three. You're listening to the Carolina Journal Dues Hour.
(27:14):
A little over a month ago, the North Carolina State
Board of Elections officially kicked off a project to fix
the registration for more than one hundred thousand voters across
the state of North Carolina. That project known as the
Registration Repair Project. To get an update about a month
or so after that launch, Terres Opeka Carolina Journal dot com.
It joins us on the news hour. Teresas some pretty
(27:37):
big numbers. We've been tracking this for quite some time
here on the program. What are we learning this morning
from the state board?
Speaker 2 (27:44):
Sure, good morning, Nick, thanks for having me so. Yep,
you said that kickoff was a little over a month ago,
and they have made some significant progress at the State
Board of Elections. So more than twenty thousand voter registration
records for people in North Carolina have been fixed under
their Registration Repair project. But now elections officials are still
(28:05):
they're milling out the remaining eighty two five hundred and
forty individuals who records still need updating. So, as you mentioned,
the election state Election Board on July seventeenth started that
major initiative with the project to collect the missing ID
numbers from roughly a little over one hundred and three
thousand registered voters who records lacked either the social Security
(28:29):
number or a driver's license number, actually the last four
of the social So the project was to bring the
state's voter rules into compliance with both federal and state laws.
Also recent court rulings and an ongoing lawsuit with the
US Department of Justice, and the board unanimously approved a
(28:50):
three part plan at their June twenty fourth meetings. That's
all this came into fruition. So it seems like they've
been making some really good progress, but they still have
a little ways to go.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
Yeah, and Teresa, you kind of mentioned there some of
the backstory. There are a lot of different moving parts,
this ongoing lawsuit, random voter complaints across the state of
North Carolina. There's been some relatively high levels of scrutiny
on the state Board of Elections specifically dealing with this
issue over the last couple of years. As you're reporting
(29:23):
this morning, some good work and getting more than twenty
thousand voter registration records dealt with, but still over eighty
two thousand remaining. What does this process look like for
those that might have this issue? Again, no fault of
their own, this is due to some faulty forms from
the state Board of Elections. What are some of these
processes look like to get this information corrected?
Speaker 2 (29:47):
Sure, so, what they're encouraging them to do is either
respond by mail, online or in person. And they also
suit said the election officials also noted if a voter
receives a letter but they already have their registration repaired,
that they don't need to take any additional action. But
(30:08):
in future elections, as you mentioned in person, voters who
still have not provided that required information to update their registration,
they're going to have to vote with a provisional ballot
and provide information either the driver's license number or the
last four numbers of their Social Security number when they vote.
And what the state Board's doing is creating a flag
to appear on these voters' records in the electronic or
(30:31):
paper poll books used at voting sites. That's to alert
poll workers that these voters must vote provisionally and provide
that missing information in order for their ballots to count.
And of course county boards of Elections will train poll
workers accordingly, so they all have they have everything set up,
so everything should be hopefully full proof.
Speaker 1 (30:51):
Yeah, and you talk about those three different ways in
which that identification information, whether it's a full driver's license
number or the last four of your Social Security number,
can be provided, Teresa, I would imagine the way that
most folks have dealt with this so far is actually
through a portal that many people already use, which is
actually the Department of Motor Vehicle the DOT and DMV's
(31:12):
service that they used to pay their yearly property taxes
on their vehicles. That the information can be updated for
free right.
Speaker 2 (31:18):
There, correct. Yeah, So anybody who's got a North Carolina
driver's license or DMV ID card in case you don't drive,
they still have the ID cards for you. They could
submit an updated voter registration form through the DMV's website.
They can go to Payments dot NCDOT dot gov and
there is no fee for the service as you mentioned,
(31:39):
and they can just click yes when as to update
their voter information. So very simple and an easy way
to update that information.
Speaker 1 (31:49):
Some folks might be wondering this morning, maybe their name
is on this list of over eighty two thousand voters. Teresa,
We've got a link over on our website where they
can actually go punch in their name and see if
they're one of these affect voters. Is that correct?
Speaker 2 (32:02):
Yes, that is correct. If you go to the article,
it does have the registration repair search tool, so you
can click on that that's highlighted in the article. That
link will take you directly to that list to see
if you are on that list, and that list is
updated daily.
Speaker 1 (32:19):
Absolutely, you can do that by visiting our website Carolina
Journal dot com. The headline story state election board corrects
over twenty thousand records, seeks more ID numbers. We appreciate
the information, the update, and the time. This morning from
terrees Opeka. You're listening to the Carolina Journal News Hour.
(32:40):
Coming up next week, it's time for the sixth annual
WBT Little Heroes Blood Drive that's heading your way Thursday, September,
the fourth WBT and the One Blood, Big Red Bus
will be at the Doghouse in Uptown Charlotte from ten
am to three pm. We'll be broadcasting live and encouraging
you to make a life saving blood dough Nation. It's
(33:01):
the sixth annual WBT Little Heroes Blood Drive next Thursday,
September fourth, at the Doghouse in Uptown Charlotte. It's five
point fifty five. Welcome back to The Carolina Journal News
Hour News TAK eleven ten ninety nine to three WBT
recapping one of our big stories this morning. Duke Energy,
the state's largest utility provider, has told the North Carolina
(33:22):
Utilities Commission that offshore wind is not currently a reliable
or lease cost energy option and no requests for proposal
will be issued. The findings follows an acquisition request for
information ordered by state regulators, which reviewed eight proposals from
three different companies holding federal leases for potentially building offshore
(33:45):
wind here on the North Carolina coast. The report site's
new uncertainties, including the Trump administration's executive actions restricting leasing
and tax credits, along with supply chain risks. Independent evaluators
will confirmed that offshore wind is not economically viable at
(34:06):
this time. Critics argue that the projects would would raise
energy costs threatened coastal industries like fishing and tourism, as
well as in danger marine life. The findings aligned with
recent Power Bill Reduction Act that sent it Bill two
sixty six, which scrapped interim carbon reduction mandates and reaffirmed
(34:27):
the states focused on least cost reliable generations, such as
things like natural gas and nuclear. John Sanders, who is
the director for the Center for Food Power in Life
at the John Locke Foundation, said, quote, Duke's filing reinforces
what we have shown for years. Offshore wind is very
expensive and a very expensive source of electricity. Even with
(34:51):
the Carbon Plan, It's prohibitively expensive. Now that the legislature
has passed the Power Bill Reduction Act, getting rid of
the Carbon Plan's interm goal of seventy percent reduction of
CO two emissions by twenty thirty, our power grid can
rely on or can rely on more reliable, on demand
natural gas power plants to continue the transition to zero
(35:15):
emissions and nuclear rather than being forced to get power
from expensive, unreliable, weather dependent sources like wind and solar.
You can read more details on that story this morning
by visiting our website, Carolina Journal dot com. That's going
to do it for a Wednesday edition. WBT News is next.
We're back with you tomorrow morning, five to six. Right
(35:37):
here on Newstock eleven ten and ninety nine to three
WBT
It's five h two and welcome into a Wednesday edition
of the Carolina Journal News Our new Stock eleven, ten
ninety nine three WBT. I'm Nick Craig. Good morning to
you will. The North Carolina Legislature gaveled in for a
brief session on Tuesday. However, we learn that lawmakers will
not be holding any votes either today or Thursday, as
(00:30):
they still have yet to reach an agreement on a
budget and have not been able to convince any Democrats,
at least in the House to come across the aisle
and support any additional veto overrides. Both the House and
Senate chambers, for the most part, were pretty much empty
yesterday what is also known as a skeleton session because
most legislators and lawmakers were told that they did not
(00:52):
need to make the trip to Raleigh as there would
not be any votes this week. That means that lawmakers
will likely not take any of a further additional action
until late September at the earliest. That is the next
time that they've got any sessions scheduled up at the
General Assembly. So with that, after adjourney in there a
July session, the legislature did schedule a couple of brief
(01:15):
monthly sessions through the remainder of the year. However, as
we learned yesterday seeing the picture and video of the
House Chamber, just a handful like three or four members
of the General Assembly in Raleigh yesterday in the House,
a couple in the Senate as well. Still dealing again
with the budget some other veto overrides. As it stands
(01:35):
right now, WI folks are going to have to wait
until at least September for some of those actions to
be taken. We'll continue to attract the details behind the scenes.
If we learn anything more about the budget or potentially
some of those veto overrides, will pass those details over
to you on our website, to Carolina Journal dot com,
and of course right here on the Carolina Journal News Hour.
(01:56):
Turning our attention to some other statewide news this morning warning.
In a recent letter to the North Carolina Utilities Commission,
Duke Energy shared a report containing research supporting the idea
that offshore wind energy production is not currently the most reliable,
cost effective energy source, and with that the company would
(02:18):
not be issuing requests for proposals or RFPs to pursue
these projects moving forward. Duke was acting in compliance with
the Utilities Commission directives to complete an acquisition request for information,
which gathered detailed market data from three wind energy area
(02:39):
lease holders off the North Carolina Coast. Those companies are
known as Avona Grid Power LLC, Synergy Corp, and Total
Energies Carolina Long Bay LLC, who together submitted eight offshore
wind development project proposals over the last few years. The
(02:59):
report IDEA identifies several new factors adding to uncertainty over
the future of offshore wind development. They include President Donald
Trump's January the twentieth executive memorandum halting new offshore win
leasing and requiring a review of federal permitting for existing projects,
provisions also in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that
(03:22):
restrict federal tax credit eligibility for both wind and solar facilities,
as well as Trump's July seventh executive order directing the
Treasury Secretary to revoke those tax credits, as well as
broader risks such as geopolitical tensions, trade tariffs affecting critical
supply chains, and other movements from the federal government. John Sanders,
(03:47):
who is the director of the Center for Food, Power
and Life at the John Locke Foundation, told the Carolina
Journal in a statement dealing with this quote, Duke's of filling.
Duke's filing rather reinforces what we have shown for years.
Offshore wind is a very expensive source of electricity. Even
(04:07):
with the Carolina Carbon Plan, it is prohibitally expensive, telling
the Carolina Journal, now that the legislature has passed the
Power Bill Reduction Act, getting rid of the Carbon Plan's
interm goal of seventy percent reduction of CO two emissions
by twenty thirty, our power grid more can rely more
(04:29):
on reliability, on demand natural gas power plants to complete
the transition to zero emission nuclear, rather than being forced
to get power from expensive, unreliable, weather dependent sources like
wind and solar. So here's some of the background on it.
Back in twenty twenty one, the House Built nine point
(04:49):
fifty one was signed into law as a bipartisan energy
bill with regulatory guard rails of prioritizing reliability and least
cost energy generation while pursuing then at the time, a
former Governor, Roy Cooper is a carbon reduction goals. The
twenty twenty three Carolina Resource Plan, which was Duke Energy's
(05:11):
long term strategy to meet future energy needs evaluated offshore
wind as one potential option in a growingly diverse energy
portfolio to support Carolina's growth. Following a July twenty twenty
four settlement with stakeholders and a directive from the North
Carolina Utilities Commission, on November one of last year, Duke
(05:34):
Energy issued an acquisition request for information to those three
entities holding federal offshore wind leases off the North Carolina coast.
The companies again Amvagrid, which was dealing with some development
up in the Kittyhawk area, as well as Total Energies
and Energy, which are both a non Duke related subsidiaries
(05:59):
for the Care Carolina Long Day Track off the coast
of southeastern North Carolina in Wilmington and Brunswick County. The
AFRII that request for information, released on January twenty ninth
of this year, sought information for up to two thousand,
four hundred megawatts of offshore wind by twenty thirty five,
(06:21):
including confidential pricing details to assess whether offshore wind could
be a least cost reliable source. The process, which was
overseen by an independent evaluator a power advisor to ensure fairness,
transparency and confidentiality, was non binding, and spanned several months.
(06:42):
Results were filed with regulators back on August the eleventh
and confirmed that offshore wind is not currently economically viable
as a least cost option. Consistent with the North Carolina
Utilities Commission November twenty twenty four order, Duke and Energy
will not produce any of the three sites at this time.
(07:04):
A conclusion also was that similar conclusion was also supported
by an independent evaluator. Nevertheless, the data gathered through the
AFRI will inform Duke Energy's twenty twenty five Carolina's Resource Plan,
which is scheduled for filing a little bit later on
this year, coming up on October the first, and will
(07:26):
guide future long term planning considerations for the utility. Bill Norton,
who is a spokesperson for Duke Energy, told The Carolina
Journal the AFRI process determined that offshore wind is not
cost competitive at this time, so no request for proposal
or RFE will be issued. This decision is supported by
(07:49):
the independent evaluator that oversaw the proceedings. Nonetheless, the evaluation
process provided a valuable project, cost and scheduled data that
will inform long term planning assumptions for the Carolina resource Plan,
which is set to be filed later this year. The
Power Advisory collaborated with the Utilities Commissioned Staff to establish
(08:13):
a reference price, which was used as a benchmark for
determining whether offshore wind generation is currently cost effective compared
to other available sources, things like natural gas. The development
of the reference price is crucial as it determines the
cost benchmark used to evaluate offshore wind According to a
(08:35):
report from the John Locke Foundation, the context is crucial
because the AFRII report occurred before the July twenty ninth
passage of the Power Bill Reduction Act, also in the
known as Senate Bill two sixty six. That legislation which
removed the Carbon Plan's interm targets of reducing CO two
(08:57):
emissions from electricity by seventy percent by twenty thirty. The
targeted disproportionality shaped of shaped the Utilities commission resource modeling,
and if left in place, would have imposed an additional
thirteen billion dollar burden on state ratepayers. John Sanders of
(09:18):
the John Locke Foundation noted not having to worry about
wind facilities being built off the shore of North Carolina
is good news for reasons other than cost to electrical consumers.
It removes a serious threat to the coast's two biggest industries,
fishing and tourism, and a deadly one to critically endangered whales,
(09:39):
sea turtles and other marine creatures alongside birds. It means
military training exercises won't be comproised and mariner and mariners
won't be endangered by marine a vessel radar interference. Finally,
remember the ecological damage brought about by just one broken
windmill turn bind braid from the Vineyard wind facility. It
(10:03):
means that there won't be eight hundred and seventy six
turbine blades sitting in North Carolina's uniquely hurk uniquely hurricane waters.
Talking about recent hurricanes like Aaron, to Florence, Helene, and others,
which were up there with Florida as coastal waters and
most frequently visited by hurricanes, John Sanders recently had a
(10:26):
report called The Big Blow. That report looked at offshore
wind development and did raise some serious concerns about the
potential impacts beyond cost and reliability. In his research, he
found that the projects have not demonstrated clear economic or
environmental benefits for the state and may prevent significant challenges
(10:48):
moving forward. According to the report, high construction and operating
costs could increase energy burdens for residents already facing energy poverty,
with him As estimating that the cost of building eight
gigawatts of offshore wind capacity in North Carolina would range
between a wopping fifty five and seventy one billion dollars.
(11:13):
It also cautions that offshore wind development could affect coastal industries,
including commercial fishing and beach tourism. The report states that
turbine arrays and lightning may alter the natural landscape, with
the planned structures becoming the tallest artificial features along the
North Carolina coast. Environmental concerns are also highlighted. The report
(11:38):
points to the risks for endangered speeches such as the
North Atlantic right whale, with looking at that there was
a record number of those deaths of the right whale
in twenty twenty four near offshore wind developments in areas
of Virginia, New Jersey, and North Carolina. It also raises
(11:58):
questions about nashal security, maritime safety risks, and the long
term disposal of turbine blades, which as we know, can
be very difficult to recycle. It also suggests that this
could create a create lasting waste management challenges. There is
a lot of moving pieces in this, some new directives
(12:20):
from the administration, changes to North Carolina state law, as
well as mandates from the North Carolina Utility Commission. We've
got links to all of those sources, including that recent
report from John Sanders on offshore wind. All of that
is linked up on our website this morning, Carolina Journal
dot com. You can head on over there the headline
(12:41):
story Duke Nix's offshore wind energy. You can read those
details again on our website, Carolina Journal dot com. It's
five twenty two. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News
our news stock eleven ten ninety nine THREEBT. Continuing our
discussion of energy this morning. Yesterday, on Tuesday, Governor Josh
(13:06):
Stein announced the creation of the North Carolina Energy Policy
Task Force. He did that through an executive order, with
the Governor saying it will aim at a strengthening the
electrical infrastructure and energy affordability in the state of North Carolina,
while pushing for renewable energy sources like solar. In a
(13:28):
press release, the governor said, quote, North Carolina is a
leader in the clean energy economy and his home to
more than one hundred thousand clean energy jobs. I am
grateful for this task force helping it to determine how
our state can build on this economic momentum, meet growing
energy demands, and ensure energy and ensure electricity is affordable
(13:52):
for North Carolinians. Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Red Wilson,
as well as state Representative Kyle Hall, the Republican out
of Stokes County, will co chair the twenty six member
task force. Stein, a Democrat, noted that North Carolina is
the third fastest growing state in the country with a
(14:13):
rapidly growing manufacturing base. He told folks yesterday that since
he took office, four point nine billion dollars in new
investments and more than fifteen thousand new jobs have been
announced from clean energy and clean technology companies, including Jet Zero,
which plans to manufacture high efficiency, low emission aircraft, as
(14:37):
well as another company company known as Boyvet Solar, which
is building a facility up in Greenville, North Carolina. In addition,
Stein mentioned that in January he launched Energy Saver and C,
an initiative to promote energy efficiency that provides rebates to
households that install an energy efficient appliances, approve home insulation,
(15:02):
or upgrade their electrical systems. The governor also said that
as the use of the energy intensive data centers that
a lot of that being used for AI or artificial intelligence,
and other highly intensive computing purposes increase, the need for
electrical power will place an additional demand on the state's
(15:23):
energy grid, noting that that in turn may lead to
higher utility bills for families. One of those is a
new ten billion dollar Amazon AI center that is planned
for Richmond County customers. Consumer advocates like Clark Howard have
said that consumers in states with monopoly power providers will
(15:44):
likely see the burden of high prices due to the
increased demand from data centers, not industrial users. The state's
regulatory bodies, Howard said, are shifting the cost burden directly
to the consumers, which means higher bills even if some
use the same amount of power they have in previous years.
(16:05):
A paper from Harvard Electrical Law Initiative concurs with Clark
Howard's statements. Stein was critical in his press release of
President Trump's One Big, Beautiful Bill Act, which he said
repealed key components of the Inflation Reduction Act of twenty
twenty two, ending access to many energy in manufacturing tax
(16:27):
credits for North Carolina businesses. The governor noted that former
President Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act led to more than
twenty four billion dollars in clean energy investments across the state.
According to the governor, the combination of the Big Beautiful
Bill and the General Assembly's Senate Bill two sixty six,
(16:48):
also known as the Power Bill Reduction Act, will mean
higher cost for families and threaten up to five fifty
thousand future jobs. Senate bill was vetoed by Democrat Governor
Josh Stein. Fortunately, the Republican led legislature overrode that veto,
which is projected to save consumers across North Carolina some
(17:12):
fifteen billion dollars by eliminating costly compliance measures. John Sanders,
who is the director of the Center for Food, Power
and Life at the John Locke Foundation, said that he
would welcome the governor the governor joining John Locke the
John Locke Foundation's push to keep North Carolina's electrical grid
(17:33):
reliable while also keeping the prices for electricity low. He said, however,
that the governor is going about it all wrong. Quote. First,
you don't keep costs down by shifting them from electrical
bills to tax bills. Second, as we've learned from the
Soviet Union, you don't put the economy under the direction
(17:53):
of an executive government committee and expect growth. And third,
even if the governor worries about fuel costs, he should
know that there are many costs to electricity generating facilities
other than fuel, including capital costs, procurement, operations, maintenance, and
utility portfolios. Sanders continued by saying that new facilities are
(18:17):
more expensive to electrical consumers than pre existing ones and
advocates for utilities to overbuild high cost, unreliable, weather dependent,
zero fuel cost solar and wind facilities, which would in
fact spike electrical costs and cripple electrical reliability. Sanders told
(18:38):
The Carolina Journal Stein wants to preserve what he calls
the clean energy economy, but that name gives away the game.
It's not good for the state's economy as a whole.
It's only good for one particular segment of the state's economy,
and he's packing this committee with its advocates. According to
(19:00):
other commentary from that quote, shamefully Stein confuses a weather
with climate and even attempts to blame Hurricane Helene on
climate change, as if North Carolina was responsible for the
hurricane by not having his preferred portfolio of power generation sources.
As doctor Stephen Mkunan to President Barack Obama's under secretary
(19:24):
for Science in the US Department of Energy put it,
quote pointing to hurricanes as examples of the ravage of
human claused climate change is at best unconvincing and at
worst plainly dishonest end quote there from John Sanders. The
task Force will submitted annual report to the Governor, the
(19:45):
General Assembly, and the North Carolina Utilities Commission, as well
as the North Carolina Rule Electrification Authority, and it will
also be made available to the public. There are a
lot of discussions going on not only here in North Carolina,
but really across the country, as there was a significant
push over the last couple of years to really harp
(20:07):
on solar and win energy as major forms of electrical generation.
The studies have come out, the data is in showing
that wind and solar are incredibly unreliable and very expensive
sources of electricity. Here in North Carolina. The General Assembly
making some changes to state law, predominantly passing and overriding
(20:31):
Senate Bill two sixty six repealing some interm carbon reduction
goals that were set to take place in twenty thirty, which,
as I noted, is projected to save consumers some fifteen
billion dollars over the next decade or two. You can
read additional details on this new task force being set
(20:51):
up by Governor Josh Stein over on our website, Carolina
Journal dot com. That story's headline, Stein creates Energy task
Force with focus on lower rates. However, renewable energy. That's
over on our website at Carolina Journal dot com. It's
(21:14):
five thirty seven. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News
our newstock eleven ten ninety nine to three WBT. The
North Carolina General Assembly briefly convened in Raleigh yesterday. However,
lawmakers took no votes, and reports are they remained deadlocked
on the state budget. Both the House and Senate chambers,
which gaveled in shortly after noon yesterday, were largely empty
(21:38):
after legislators were told that they did not need to
travel to Raleigh this week for votes. With that, it
means likely no further action is expected until late September,
the next calendar dates for votes out of the ga
Since adjourney in July, the legislature has scheduled monthly sessions
throughout the rest of the year. However, it does not
(22:01):
immediately remain clear this morning whether those dates will be
skeleton sessions like we saw yesterday where there was just
a handful of lawmakers in each of the chambers, or
whether all of the lawmakers will make it back and
actually vote this week. Lawmakers are also not attempting to
override vetos of Governor Josh Stein's various of bills that
(22:23):
he did veto throughout the last month or so, and
remain deadlocked on an agreement for a budget for the
fiscal year, which began back on July the first. The
stalemate is of something that we continue to track in
details that we continue to follow here on the Carolina
Journal News Hour. Important to note neither Senate Leader Phil
(22:44):
Berger nor House Speaker Destin Hall we're leading either of
the chambers this week, and they lawmakers are expected, at
least a few of them, are going to be back
on Thursday, once again likely to be the same thing,
a skeleton session, no vote schedule for that we will
keep our eye on those details over on our website
to Carolina Journal dot com. In some other news this morning.
(23:08):
As many public school districts kick off the traditional calendar
year this week, new research from the University of North
Carolina at Greensboro is showing the importance of physical activity
in producing a better academic achievement. Researchers from a UNCG
found that a burst of physical activity in the classroom
(23:30):
may be enough to boost children's performance on standardized tests. Specifically,
the report found that giving students roughly nine minutes of
high intensity interval exercise immediately before testing did produce measurable
gains on standardized measures of verbal comprehension. The study, published
(23:52):
in the Journal of Psychology of Sport and Exercise, involved
twenty five children between the ages of nine and two twelve,
and compared three conditions a nine minute interval exercise routine
that can be done in place modern intensity cycling, and
seeded rest. According to the lead author, an assistant professor
(24:14):
at UNCG, Professor Eric Dortel, quote, in the classroom, you
have teachers that say let's take a let's take a
movement break to get focused again. We know that that's
a case that analydotically has happened in classrooms, but we
hadn't put any science to it. To replicate what teachers
might have might realistically do during a lesson, researchers designed
(24:37):
a short sequence of activities that require no special equipment
high knees, jumping jacks, lunges, and air squads. Students performed
each exercise for thirty seconds, followed by thirty seconds of rest,
for a total of about nine minutes. After the exercise
session and after the comparison sessions of psycho or seeded
(25:01):
rest on separate days, students completed a cognitive test that
measured verbal comprehension when the same child engaged in high
intensity interval exercises immediately prior to the testing. The scores
on the verbal comprehension measure were significantly higher than they
were had they been seated beforehand, according to the study.
(25:24):
Other folks within the study co authors also said that
the findings prove evidence that even in a short, single
bout of movement can have a meaningful benefit for cognitive performance.
In the release from UNCG reads, this research provides us
with valuable insight into the potential for single, short periods
(25:46):
of exercise to benefit children's cognitive performance. These findings may
have important implications for teachers who are incorporating movement breaks
into their classrooms and who might then see a benefit
of their students' academic performance. The study also looked beyond
test scores to see what was happening in students' brains.
(26:08):
Those conducting the study used a variety of research to
measure neurological signals known as error related negatives, which appear
when people make mistakes. According to the researchers, higher ERN
amplitudes are associated with increased fixation on making an error
(26:30):
or making a mistake, which can distract from the overall's
task performance. The UNCG team observed a decrease in the
ERN after the interval exercise condition, suggesting that the short
workout made errors less distracting and may have helped students
respond more effectively when in fact they did make mistakes.
(26:52):
It's a very interesting study. We've got it over on
our website this morning, Carolina Journal dot com. That story's
headline brief class that room exercises before tests improve scores.
UNCG study fines. You can read those details again over
on our website Carolina Journal dot com. It's now five
point forty three. You're listening to the Carolina Journal Dues Hour.
(27:14):
A little over a month ago, the North Carolina State
Board of Elections officially kicked off a project to fix
the registration for more than one hundred thousand voters across
the state of North Carolina. That project known as the
Registration Repair Project. To get an update about a month
or so after that launch, Terres Opeka Carolina Journal dot com.
It joins us on the news hour. Teresas some pretty
(27:37):
big numbers. We've been tracking this for quite some time
here on the program. What are we learning this morning
from the state board?
Speaker 2 (27:44):
Sure, good morning, Nick, thanks for having me so. Yep,
you said that kickoff was a little over a month ago,
and they have made some significant progress at the State
Board of Elections. So more than twenty thousand voter registration
records for people in North Carolina have been fixed under
their Registration Repair project. But now elections officials are still
(28:05):
they're milling out the remaining eighty two five hundred and
forty individuals who records still need updating. So, as you mentioned,
the election state Election Board on July seventeenth started that
major initiative with the project to collect the missing ID
numbers from roughly a little over one hundred and three
thousand registered voters who records lacked either the social Security
(28:29):
number or a driver's license number, actually the last four
of the social So the project was to bring the
state's voter rules into compliance with both federal and state laws.
Also recent court rulings and an ongoing lawsuit with the
US Department of Justice, and the board unanimously approved a
(28:50):
three part plan at their June twenty fourth meetings. That's
all this came into fruition. So it seems like they've
been making some really good progress, but they still have
a little ways to go.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
Yeah, and Teresa, you kind of mentioned there some of
the backstory. There are a lot of different moving parts,
this ongoing lawsuit, random voter complaints across the state of
North Carolina. There's been some relatively high levels of scrutiny
on the state Board of Elections specifically dealing with this
issue over the last couple of years. As you're reporting
(29:23):
this morning, some good work and getting more than twenty
thousand voter registration records dealt with, but still over eighty
two thousand remaining. What does this process look like for
those that might have this issue? Again, no fault of
their own, this is due to some faulty forms from
the state Board of Elections. What are some of these
processes look like to get this information corrected?
Speaker 2 (29:47):
Sure, so, what they're encouraging them to do is either
respond by mail, online or in person. And they also
suit said the election officials also noted if a voter
receives a letter but they already have their registration repaired,
that they don't need to take any additional action. But
(30:08):
in future elections, as you mentioned in person, voters who
still have not provided that required information to update their registration,
they're going to have to vote with a provisional ballot
and provide information either the driver's license number or the
last four numbers of their Social Security number when they vote.
And what the state Board's doing is creating a flag
to appear on these voters' records in the electronic or
(30:31):
paper poll books used at voting sites. That's to alert
poll workers that these voters must vote provisionally and provide
that missing information in order for their ballots to count.
And of course county boards of Elections will train poll
workers accordingly, so they all have they have everything set up,
so everything should be hopefully full proof.
Speaker 1 (30:51):
Yeah, and you talk about those three different ways in
which that identification information, whether it's a full driver's license
number or the last four of your Social Security number,
can be provided, Teresa, I would imagine the way that
most folks have dealt with this so far is actually
through a portal that many people already use, which is
actually the Department of Motor Vehicle the DOT and DMV's
(31:12):
service that they used to pay their yearly property taxes
on their vehicles. That the information can be updated for
free right.
Speaker 2 (31:18):
There, correct. Yeah, So anybody who's got a North Carolina
driver's license or DMV ID card in case you don't drive,
they still have the ID cards for you. They could
submit an updated voter registration form through the DMV's website.
They can go to Payments dot NCDOT dot gov and
there is no fee for the service as you mentioned,
(31:39):
and they can just click yes when as to update
their voter information. So very simple and an easy way
to update that information.
Speaker 1 (31:49):
Some folks might be wondering this morning, maybe their name
is on this list of over eighty two thousand voters. Teresa,
We've got a link over on our website where they
can actually go punch in their name and see if
they're one of these affect voters. Is that correct?
Speaker 2 (32:02):
Yes, that is correct. If you go to the article,
it does have the registration repair search tool, so you
can click on that that's highlighted in the article. That
link will take you directly to that list to see
if you are on that list, and that list is
updated daily.
Speaker 1 (32:19):
Absolutely, you can do that by visiting our website Carolina
Journal dot com. The headline story state election board corrects
over twenty thousand records, seeks more ID numbers. We appreciate
the information, the update, and the time. This morning from
terrees Opeka. You're listening to the Carolina Journal News Hour.
(32:40):
Coming up next week, it's time for the sixth annual
WBT Little Heroes Blood Drive that's heading your way Thursday, September,
the fourth WBT and the One Blood, Big Red Bus
will be at the Doghouse in Uptown Charlotte from ten
am to three pm. We'll be broadcasting live and encouraging
you to make a life saving blood dough Nation. It's
(33:01):
the sixth annual WBT Little Heroes Blood Drive next Thursday,
September fourth, at the Doghouse in Uptown Charlotte. It's five
point fifty five. Welcome back to The Carolina Journal News
Hour News TAK eleven ten ninety nine to three WBT
recapping one of our big stories this morning. Duke Energy,
the state's largest utility provider, has told the North Carolina
(33:22):
Utilities Commission that offshore wind is not currently a reliable
or lease cost energy option and no requests for proposal
will be issued. The findings follows an acquisition request for
information ordered by state regulators, which reviewed eight proposals from
three different companies holding federal leases for potentially building offshore
(33:45):
wind here on the North Carolina coast. The report site's
new uncertainties, including the Trump administration's executive actions restricting leasing
and tax credits, along with supply chain risks. Independent evaluators
will confirmed that offshore wind is not economically viable at
(34:06):
this time. Critics argue that the projects would would raise
energy costs threatened coastal industries like fishing and tourism, as
well as in danger marine life. The findings aligned with
recent Power Bill Reduction Act that sent it Bill two
sixty six, which scrapped interim carbon reduction mandates and reaffirmed
(34:27):
the states focused on least cost reliable generations, such as
things like natural gas and nuclear. John Sanders, who is
the director for the Center for Food Power in Life
at the John Locke Foundation, said, quote, Duke's filing reinforces
what we have shown for years. Offshore wind is very
expensive and a very expensive source of electricity. Even with
(34:51):
the Carbon Plan, It's prohibitively expensive. Now that the legislature
has passed the Power Bill Reduction Act, getting rid of
the Carbon Plan's interm goal of seventy percent reduction of
CO two emissions by twenty thirty, our power grid can
rely on or can rely on more reliable, on demand
natural gas power plants to continue the transition to zero
(35:15):
emissions and nuclear rather than being forced to get power
from expensive, unreliable, weather dependent sources like wind and solar.
You can read more details on that story this morning
by visiting our website, Carolina Journal dot com. That's going
to do it for a Wednesday edition. WBT News is next.
We're back with you tomorrow morning, five to six. Right
(35:37):
here on Newstock eleven ten and ninety nine to three
WBT
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