October 2, 2025 • 35 mins
Duke Energy’s latest long-term plan boosts nuclear power, expands natural gas, and extends the use of coal while leaving out wind energy development, sparking debate over the state’s future energy mix. As North Carolina enters fall fire season, officials warn the state now ranks among the nation’s top fire-risk states. Meanwhile, NC State University has filed suit against Monsanto over toxic chemical contamination in Poe Hall. On the elections front, the State Board of Elections has reversed a controversial rule and will now allow partisan observers in nonpartisan races.
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
It's five oh four and welcome into a Thursday edition
of the Carolina Journal Newsurduce Talk eleven ten ninety nine
to three WBT. I'm Nick Craig. A good morning to you.
We are now in day two of a federal government shutdown,
as a Senate vote on Wednesday failed to reopen the
government after it shut down as the clock struck in
(00:29):
twelve oh one am Wednesday morning. This is after many
federal agencies have begun their process of sloping or cutting
down on their workforces and begin shut down operations. We
learned some additional details about that yesterday. Here's the situation
that we're in right now. The Republican controlled House passed
(00:50):
a bill earlier in the month of September that would
keep the government funded at current levels through November the
twenty first of this year. Senate Democrats, however, refuse to
support this clean continuing resolution in an effort to force
Republicans to negotiate on the Affordable Care Act and Affordable
(01:10):
Care Act subsidies that are set to expire at the
end of the calendar year. Republicans do have the majority
in the United States Senate, but do need support from Democrats.
To reach that sixty vote filibuster to overcome that. The
most recent vote still just fifty five votes in favor
of the Continuing Resolution, so still a multiple vote.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Sure.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
We are going to continue to keep a close eye
on this as the impasse continues, both the sides digging
their heels into the sand pretty clearly with this government
shut down. The Senate will be back once again this
morning to take additional votes on this continuing Resolution. We'll
continue to track the details and keep you up to
date with everything you need to know right here on
(01:56):
the Carolina Journal News Hour, where it's now five h
six News ten ninety nine to three WBT. There's been
a lot of national discussion over the last couple of
years about renewable energy and is that sustainable? Is it
affordable for electrical grids across the United States. We've got
a pretty substantial story this morning on the Carolina Journal
News Hour out of Duke Energy, the state's largest electrical
(02:19):
producer and provider, and some new filings with the North
Carolina Utilities Commission. To walk us through some of those details.
Mitch Coki with the John Locke Foundation joins us on
the Carolina Journal News Hour Mitch, it looks like Duke
is maybe shying away from some of these renewable energy
sources that have been a major political discussion for lawmakers
all the way from Raleigh down here to North Carolina.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
Well, certainly they're changing the mix of the types of
energy sources that they want to use moving forward. You
mentioned the renewable sources. One of the major ones, of course,
is solar power, and Duke's latest filing really kind of
stays the course on what it plans to do with solar,
but they would do nothing in terms of wind power
(03:03):
during the course of the time period that's covered in
this filing, which is something that will be bad news
to people who are advocates of wind power. Basically, what
happened here is that Duke is required every two years
to talk about what mix of energy that it wants
to use moving forward. It files this plan with the
(03:24):
state regulators. The Utilities Commission will look at the plan,
hold hearings, and then decide whether Duke gets to comply
with its plan or has to tweak it in some way.
And the major change with this version of the plan
compared to the one that was filed a couple of
years ago. Is that Duke really takes more a greater
(03:45):
look at nuclear energy and also ramping up natural gas
and also extending coal power. Remember that coal power is
the type of power that's been targeted most for a shutdown.
What Duke is saying in its latest plan is, let's
try to extend by two to four years some of
(04:05):
these coal plants that otherwise might be shut down, and
especially targeting plants that can have multiple fuel sources. So
this might be a plant that could run run on coal,
but can also run on natural gas. And so if
you can extend the coal plant for a couple of
years or more, that might extend the useful life of
(04:26):
a plant that could eventually convert over to natural gas.
There are a couple of big headlines beyond just the
fact that it's ramping up the support of these natural
gas and nuclear and coal options, and that is the
Duke says that this is meeting a much greater demand
(04:47):
for electricity than was even predicted a couple of years ago.
They say the growth in the demand for electricity is
going to be multiple times higher over the next fifteen
years as it was over the previous fifteen years, and
so by being able to shift toward the nuclear and
toward extending coal and to natural gas. That's going to
(05:09):
end up helping customers in terms of the bottom line.
The estimate from this filing is that the average annual
increase in bills for customers will be two percent, which
might sound that like that's not that great because you're
going to see costs go up, But they say that's
much less than it would have been if Duke stuck
(05:32):
with the mix of energy sources that were called for
in the previous plan. If you went with that previous plan,
which is calling for quicker phase out of coal, trying
to get much more solar, and not relying as heavily
on things like nuclear natural gas, that the prices for
the consumers would have been much higher. So the big
(05:54):
headlines are in addition to the increased emphasis on clear
and the natural gas and extending the life of coal,
it's also the Duke says that this will be more
cost effective for the consumers and it will help deal
with a major increase in electricity demand, far beyond what
(06:15):
was even predicted a couple of years ago.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
Mitch, there's a couple of other things to deconstruct here.
You talk about this demand, and this is not just
a purely academic discussion. We saw Christmas Eve back a
couple of years ago issues with the North Carolina power
grid due to some extremely cold temperatures that time of year,
causing some black and brownouts throughout portions of North Carolina.
(06:38):
The state continually is near the top or at the
top of CNBC's number one state for business. You've got
manufacturing that's moving here. AI data centers have been in
the news a lot nationally and internationally over the last
couple of months, and the incredible amount of electrical demand
that those facilities are require to do all of the
(06:59):
computer algorithms and checks and things that are done in
those AI data centers. This is huge for the future
growth of North Carolina. If we don't have a sustainable
energy system, you can't imagine that any business would be
looking at the tar heel state for any growth or expansion.
Speaker 3 (07:16):
That's right. If we don't have the energy to provide
to these businesses and to the data centers and all
of the people who want to live in North Carolina,
we're not going to be as attractive. Two folks who
are thinking about relocating to North Carolina and thinking about
whether they could stay here one of the other things.
And Duke didn't really emphasize it in its announcement, but
(07:38):
John Sanders, who's the director of the Center for Food,
Power and Life at the John Locke Foundation, certainly did
when he looked at this and commented on it for
the story that appears at Carolina Journal dot com, and
that is this is in some ways a reaction to
Senate Bill two sixty six, the Power Bill Reduction Act
(08:00):
that the North Carolina General Assembly approved in July over
Governor Josh Stein's vito and that bill basically said we're
going to get rid of this seventy percent carbon emissions
reduction goal that was put in place several years ago.
This was a goal that was a sort of an
interim goal in place for twenty thirty on the way
(08:22):
to a larger goal of net zero emissions by twenty fifty.
And by getting rid of that twenty thirty goal, that
really freed Duke up to make the types of changes
that are called for in this plant. Had we still
had that twenty thirty goal of getting rid of seventy
percent of the emissions, it's almost certain that Duke would
have had to have much costlier realm and mix of
(08:48):
energy sources, and you would not have seen the flexibility
in the plant to be able to have the coal
power plants extended and to see a ramp up of
natural gas. Nuclear, of course, would be fined under any
scenario because it doesn't have emissions. But this certainly, by
passing that Senate Bill two sixty six, despite Governor Josh
(09:08):
Stein's veto that freeze, Duke up to be able to
make these more cost effective measures to address that huge
demand in electricity that you were just talking about. Because
of our booming economy, we.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
Don't have time this morning to relitigate some of the
concerns with offshore wind or electrical generation from these massive turbines.
We've had some of those discussions in the past, Mitch.
They're incredibly expensive, there's huge environmental impacts, and frankly, they're
not incredibly reliable as they are relied on Mother Nature
to produce electricity. But I would also imagine some of
Duke's decision probably has to do with some of the
(09:44):
changes up in Washington, d C. We've seen with the
Trump administration freezing or blocking out some of these federal
offshore win permits here off the coast of North Carolina.
A lot of outrage over the last three or four
years for folks in southeastern North Carolina off the What
County coast about some leasing programs that the federal government
was set to a lease out to various providers to
(10:07):
build these wind turbines. It seems like that is at
least on pause now from the federal level, So it
seems like maybe even if Duke wanted to continue down
that path, they may have not even had a viable
way to do so.
Speaker 3 (10:19):
Well, you're exactly right about the impact of policy both
at the state level and at the federal level, and
that is something that Duke recognized as it was promoting
its latest plan, said, we looked at what the tax
and regulatory policy is for these different forms of energy,
and because of changes that have happened on Capitol Hill
(10:39):
and have happened in the state capitals in Raleigh and Columbia,
that's one of the reasons why they came up with
the mix of options that they did. And you referenced
wind power, and basically Duke has a very complicated discussion
of its various looks at nuclear and natural gas, and
you have to know a lot of the jargon and
(11:00):
to be able to understand much of it, but you
can really understand the wind power assessment, which was wind
power doesn't make sense any time between now and twenty
forty and a lot of that is because it's no
longer being looked at as a viable energy source from
the federal government as it was when the Biden administration
(11:21):
was in place. Had the Biden administration been in place
and you still had some of the incentives for looking
at wind power, perhaps Duke might have put something about
wind power into its plan. But now that those are
gone and the Trump administration has looked at wind power
much more realistically, Duke also has a chance to look
(11:41):
at wind power realistically and say, look, from the timeframe
that we're looking at wind power doesn't make sense. Doesn't
mean it might not make sense sometime in the future,
but it doesn't make sense now.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
This is a very impactful story and will effect, as
you noted, Mitch, ratepayers all across the state of North Carolina,
whether you're talking about your house, your apartment, your your
business complex, pretty much affecting anybody that purchases electricity from
Duke Energy. You can read some additional details on our website.
This morning, Carolina Journal dot com. We appreciate the update.
Mitch Koki from the John Locke Foundation joins us on
(12:14):
the Carolina Journal News Hour. It's twenty three minutes past
the hour. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour.
News stock eleven ten ninety nine three WBT. As we
are now into the month of October, the fall wildfire
season has begun across North Carolina, and the North Carolina
(12:36):
Forest Service is reminding residents to use practices recommended by
the Forest Service to reduce the risk of wildfires. This
has been a major discussion throughout the entirety of this year.
The wildfire risk is, of course, due to all of
the debris in the western half of North Carolina left
in the wake of Hurricane Helene, and Agricultural Commissioner Steve
(12:59):
Trucks are set in a press release this week, quote
Wildfire prevention and risk reduction are two important areas that
each of us has the ability to directly impact. Sometimes
a wildfire is inevitable due to circumstances beyond our control,
such as lightning strikes or down power lines. However, most
(13:19):
of our wildfires are avoidable, as human activity continues to
be responsible for more than ninety nine percent of all
wildfire causes here Across the Tar Heel State. The fall
wildfire season runs October through early December, and there are
two primary wildfire seasons, one in the spring, one in
(13:39):
the fall. Earlier this year, we brought you details from
Steve Troxler as he told state lawmakers that North Carolina,
as it stands this year, is the number one state
in the nation at risk for wildfires, and the North
Carolina Forest Service responded to more than fifty six thousand
wildfires burning more than thirty four thousand acres between July one,
(14:03):
twenty twenty four and June thirtieth of this year. According
to a recent press release. This includes the wildfires that
ravage western North Carolina earlier this year. The leading ignition
source for human caused wildfires include the use of machines
and vehicles, backyard debris burning, arson, and escaped campfires. Now,
(14:25):
the Forest Service does have a lengthy recommendation process for
folks to keep an eye on. You can read those
details over in the story on our website, Carolina Journal
dot com. We've also got some additional details from Steve Troxler,
who says, quote, We've just surpassed the one year mark
since Hurricane Helene unleased significant devastation on so many of
(14:48):
our citizens and natural resources. Being prepared for wildfires is
more important than ever, especially in western North Carolina. We're
more than eight hundred thousand acres of four forest land
were damaged, leaving substantial fuel on the ground. Please do
your part to prevent and prepare for wildfires. Prescribe burns
(15:10):
have been one of the most effective forms of wildfire management,
not just here here in North Carolina, but across the country,
and North Carolina is one of eleven southern states with
a burn manager certification program. According to Margaret Young from
the Fiscal Division Research of the North Carolina General Assembly,
(15:30):
the Forest Service receives around a million dollars a year
in recurring funds from the state budget, which is appropriated
by the General Assembly two fund the Prescribe burn Cost
Share Program. This program supports private forest owners in covering
the cost of prescribe burns as a form of forestry management.
(15:52):
During the fiscal year twenty twenty four, one hundred and
seventy burns occurred on more than eight thousand acres. This
is private land. Seventy seven percent of that we're one
hundred acres or less. And the cast share reimbursement was
handled through the North Carolina General Assembly, giving that money
to the North Carolina Forest Service. Troxler told lawmakers earlier
(16:16):
this year, quote, I want you to note today that
we are not prepared to handle a massive wildfire situation,
especially in the mountains of North Carolina. Helene put a
tremendous load of fuel on the ground. Trees and limbs
are laying there, and it's not going to go away.
In fact, as it drives more and more, the fire
danger is going to get worse, and it's not going
(16:38):
to be just a one year thing. It's probably going
to take at least three years for a lot of
that material to rod out to the point that it
is not a tremendous fire hazard. So this is something
that we are keeping a close eye on. We did
see some pretty wild no pun intended, some pretty wild
fires earlier this year burning in the western half of
(16:59):
North Carolina, some just across the state line. A major
wildfire burning just to the west of the Myrtle Beach,
North Myrtle Beach area earlier this year. So the wildfire
season has officially begun across the state of North Carolina.
We'll keep an eye on that and again encourage you
for folks that do do some of those outdoor burns,
(17:20):
those that are camping, so on and so forth. There's
a huge list of recommendations and things that you can
do to be greater prepared over on our website this morning,
Carolina Journal dot com. That story's headline n see top
fire risk state as fallfire season begins. You can read
all of those details by visiting our website Carolina Journal
(17:41):
dot com. It's five thirty five. Welcome back to the
Carolina Journal News Hour, Newstock eleven, ten ninety nine three WBT.
We've got an interesting legal story out of our state
capitol this morning and the ce state. The University of
(18:01):
North Carolina has filed a lawsuit against chemical giant Monsanto
over toxic chemicals found at the university's Poe Hall building.
Back in twenty twenty three. Poe Hall, which housed the
College of Education and the Department of Psychology, was shut
down after tests detected high levels of PCBs, a chemical
(18:25):
widely used in construction until it was banned in the
United States in the late nineteen seventies. The lawsuit, which
was filed in Wake County yesterday by NC State, alleges
that Monsanto quote marketed PCB mixtures to the building industry
while representing them as non texas, non toxic, and non volatile,
(18:46):
despite internal knowledge dating back decades that PCBs are toxic, persistent,
and prone to migrate and contaminate indoor environments. This suit
is massive. It seeks hundreds of millions of dollars in
remediation costs for the building, plus punitive damages and legal fees,
while also holding Monsanto liable from any future personnel injury claims.
(19:11):
And this is relevant because NC State has already faced
legal challenges over PCB exposure from students and employees over
the last year or so. The lawsuit reads, in part,
Monsanto never advised NC State or the public that its
PCB products would inevitably leach, leak, afmit, discharge, and release PCBs,
(19:35):
particularly in such a manner that requires remediation, despite being
used for their ordinary and intended use. Had Monsanto adequately
warned NC State prior to the construction of Poe Hall
NC State would have not allowed the use of the
building material with PCBs in the construction process. The Chancellor
(19:57):
of North Carolina State University, Kevin Howell, set in a
press release that this is simply about accountability, writing, since
I joined as chancellor in May, a vacant, contaminated instruction
hall has caused much concern and worry for many, as
it has been sitting idle and must be remediated. This
(20:17):
lawsuit is about responsibility and accountability for the cleanup of
this building so that we can get our students back
to learning. In the meantime, along with concerned students, faculty,
and staff, we are eagerly awaiting results from a pending
environmental report. Built it back in nineteen seventy one, before
the federal ban on PCB's PO Hall was constructed with
(20:40):
material containing the chemicals. Environmental testing that happened in both
twenty twenty three and twenty twenty four found PCB levels
in the building's HVAC system that exceeded EPA standards. UNC
System President Peter Hans applauded the university for taking legal action, saying, quote,
(21:00):
this legal action is just the right thing to do,
and I applaud NC State for taking this step. Countless
people are understandably fearful and concerned about the university and
taxpayers as they face a nine figure bill. This lawsuit
is about assigning accountability and responsibility where it properly belongs.
(21:22):
This is going to be a long process. Engineers already
say that fixing Poe Hall will require the building to
be almost completely demolished and then rebuilt. Rather than waiting
for that lawsuit to play out. NC State has reported
that they have already started remediation efforts, as officials say
that that work is necessary to comply with federal law
(21:43):
and ensure that the contaminated building does not sit idle,
which would be in violation of EPA standards. Monsanto has
been in the news a lot over the last ten
or fifteen years, with a lot of lawsuits over some
of the chemicals that they make. Now you've got a
North Carolina state universe, the NC State suing the chemical giant.
You can read some additional details on that story this
(22:05):
morning by visiting our website Carolina Journal dot com. The
story's headline NC State suz Mon Santo over toxic chemicals
in Poe Hall. It's now five point thirty nine. You're
listening to the Carolina Journal News Hour. When you voted
last November, you may have noticed some individuals sitting alongside
the polling location. Those individuals are called poll observers. They
(22:26):
are nominated by both the Republican and Democrat party in
counties all across North Carolina to do exactly what their
name states, observe what's going on in voting or polling locations.
That was and does continue to be a traditional and
typical task during a general in midterm elections. However, for
municipal elections, things are a little bit different. To walk
(22:47):
us through a recent decision from the North Carolina State
Board of Elections, Andy Jackson with the John Locke Foundation
joins us on the Carolina Journal News Hour. Andy, for
last year's election, you had Republicans and Democrats on the ballot,
Republican and Democrat pole observers, things get a little dicey, however,
when you go into non partisan municipal elections, many of
(23:07):
which are taking place coming up here a little bit
later on this year.
Speaker 2 (23:11):
Right, and what the stems from is an interpretation of
a law that was passed in twenty twenty three seven
forty seven, and it's said that parties could nominate observers
when they had candidates from their party on the ballot,
and so the State Board of Elections executive director at
(23:33):
the time, Karen Princeton Bell, interpreted that to mean that
the parties could only have observers if there was a
nominee of their party on the ballot at the time.
And a lot of municipalities do not have partisan elections,
you know, school boards don't have partisan elections, and so
under that interpretation, the parties couldn't appoint observers. But you know,
(23:56):
we do know that these municipal elections are really important.
We do know that both parties, even if they don't
have official nominees, are often neck deep in this election.
They encourage people to run, and so, you know, folks
were expecting that they'd be able to have observers in
these elections to make sure that they're satisfied that the
(24:17):
election was run properly.
Speaker 1 (24:19):
And even though later on this year, some folks might
not see ours or d's next to individuals' names, Andy,
there is a very high probability that every one of
the candidates on the ballot is likely registered with the
Republican or Democrat party. So while it doesn't appear on
the ballot, many of these individuals are strict partisans and
are as you noted, actively engaged in working with their
(24:41):
local Democrat Party or their local GOP.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
Right. Yeah, that's true, and so what you have here
is you have the parties are very much involved. We
also know that people that with a partisan registration do
tend to be more active in voting. They also tend
to be more active and running for either part of
or nonpartisan races, and so you could expect that at
(25:04):
least the majority, if not you know, all on the
ballot are people with one party or the other, and
so you know, the parties have a stake in this outcome,
both from a policy perspective and also because you know,
these municipal elections are kind of like farm teams for
later on elections for the state legislature or our state
(25:26):
wide office.
Speaker 1 (25:28):
Andy, can you go through the process kind of erasing
what we're talking about with partisan versus non partisan? Can
you explain briefly the benefit of having pole observers from
both major political parties in voting locations all across one
hundred counties here in North Carolina.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
Well, there's a couple of them. The first one is
that you have this extra set of eyes on the process.
You know, election workers are busy checking voters in going,
you know, getting them their ballot, helping them get the
ballot into to be counted, and so this is an
extra set of eyes to make sure that everything is
(26:06):
running at is supposed to run, and so that helps
the actual election integrity. There's also the comfort level of voters,
especially partisan voters, voters from both the Democratic and Republican parties,
if they have their people in watching and those people
don't see a problem with the process, that helps reassure
(26:26):
voters that everything is on the up and up.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
Earlier this year, we saw some changes to the North
Carolina State Board of Elections. Previously a three to two
Democrat two Republican majority, that has now changed. It is
a three to two Republican over Democrat majority, a new
executive director. What do we learn from their meeting earlier
this week as it relates to these pole observers for
the upcoming municipal elections.
Speaker 2 (26:52):
Well, basically what they did is so the Karen Brinston Belle,
the former executive director, dominated by a Democratic majority a
place where Sam Hayes were appointed by the new Republican majority,
and essentially Hayes reinterpreted the rules and put it up
to a vote of the board, and I believe it
was a four to one vote. We had at least
(27:13):
one Democrat also supporting this change. And so they reinterpreted
that law to mean that it wasn't necessarily a nominee
of the party as long as it was a person
affiliated with that party. So somebody registered Republican or registered Democrat,
as long as they have that, then they can appoint unbserver. Now,
this would also perhaps ironically encourage the parties to make
(27:36):
sure they have at least one person on the ballot,
because you need to have a person from your party
on the ballot in order to be qualified to a
point of observers. It's an important change, and it's going
to allow the parties to kind of do the function
that they're used to doing as far as appointing observers
and making sure that the election process is run as
it is supposed to be run.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
Now Here in North Carolina we have these states of
elections kind of the overarching entity, but Andy in every
one hundred counties are all one hundred counties, I should
say there are county board of Elections. Those are the
groups that are actually responsible for facilitating early voting, election day,
all of the various things that voters go through throughout
that process. This decision is coming pretty close to the
(28:19):
start of the early voting period that kicks off here
not too long from now. Election day is just right
around the corner. I think the intention is to have
this squared away for this election cycle, but we're running
very close to some of these deadlines to not only
get these pole observers nominated but trained in the process.
This is really going to come down to the wire.
Speaker 2 (28:39):
It really is. And you know, as we've already had
a round of elections in September, and you do have
you do have to have a gateway before nominating people.
It may be too late in some counties to have
people ready and get them nominated for early voting. They
certainly should be able to have them ready for election day.
But of course, most of the these poll observers, there's new
(29:01):
people every year, just like there's a new election workers
every year, but most of these folks are people that
already have experience as observers, so that aspect of it
won't be too much of a problem as far as
getting them trained and knowing what to do. It's just
you know, meeting those legal requirements and deadlines and you know,
calling people saying, hey, I didn't think that we'd be
(29:23):
able to appoint you to as an observer, but can
you go ahead and serve on such and such a date.
So there is a logistical hurdle that the parties are
going to have to overcome to get those observers in.
Speaker 1 (29:33):
It's an interesting story. We've got some additional coverage this
morning over on our website Carolina Journal dot com. We
appreciate the information and the insight from doctor Andy Jackson
with the John Locke Foundation, who joins us on the
Carolina Journal News Hour. Good morning again, it's five point
fifty two. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News our
(29:55):
new stock eleven ten ninety nine three wb D. Keeping
an eye on our big story we've been following over
the last couple of days, Day two of a federal
government shutdown, as a Senate vote to reopen the government
did fail yesterday. This is ours after many federal agencies
began the process of ceasing their operations at least temporarily,
(30:17):
as the government has now officially shut down. As we
were learning some additional details this morning, the Senate will
once again try to convene today to pass the Republican
led CR that's the continuing resolution to keep the government
funded through November the twenty first. Both sides have dug
their heels into the sand pretty heavily on this one,
(30:38):
so we'll keep an eye on the details over the
next couple of days and provide you updates as soon
as we get them right here on the Carolina Journal
News Hour. In some statewide news this morning, a Duke Energy,
in a new two year long rage energy modernization plan,
is set to rely more heavily on nuclear power, natural gas,
(30:59):
and call. This plan was filed Wednesday with the North
Carolina Utilities Commission, and the plan holds the line on
solar commitments but calls for no use of wind power
moving forward. Duke's new twenty twenty five Carolina Resource plan
projects an average two point one percent annual increase in
customer's power bills, lower than the rate of inflation and
(31:23):
significantly less than projected costs for the previously approved plan.
According to the power utility. It is important to note
that state regulators do have to approve Duke's plan before
the utility can proceed. Those hearings will be scheduled and
take place in twenty twenty six, Duke writes in their
(31:43):
plan quote. This plan reflects rising electrical demand across the
Carolinas at an unprecedented pace. Across the Carolina's customer energy
needs over the next fifteen years are expected to grow
at eight times the growth rate of the prior fifteen years.
To put that in perspective, that growth alone is more
(32:04):
than double the energy use forecasted when the twenty twenty
three Carolina Resource Plan was initially filed. The updated plan
adapts to significant policy changes at both the state and
federal level. According to a press release from Duke, both
North and South Carolina have approved recent legislation emphasizing reliability
(32:27):
of electrical generation. Meanwhile, changes at the federal levels support
advanced nuclear and battery storage and provide flexibility for existing
coal and new natural gas generation. Changes from the twenty
twenty three plan include adding light water nuclear reactors or
LLWR technology for evaluation along with SMR. These are small
(32:51):
modular reactors Duke has targeted potential twenty thirty seven in
service dates for an SMR generation plant in North Carolina
and another one of these light water nuclear reactors in
Cherokee County, South Carolina. Duke would add two natural gas
combustion turbines beyond the twenty twenty three projections. The utilities
(33:15):
now targeting four thousand new megawatts of solar power by
twenty thirty four and maintaining the twenty twenty five procurement
target to maximize customer benefits of remaining federal energy credits
for solar. One of the big things missing from this
plan is offshore wind. This has drawn major controversy in
(33:37):
coastal areas up and down the East coast of the
United States, particularly here in North Carolina. Folks off the
Brunswick County coast of pretty dismayed over the last couple
of years with reports that the federal government would begin
the process of leasing out hundreds of acres of land
just off the shore of the coast for companies like
(33:58):
Duke Energy and others to build a very tall and
very expensive offshore wind turbines. Duke Energy does not include,
as we mentioned, does not include any offshore wind or
any wind generation. In this plan, they are looking at
these new nuclear SMR and LWR technologies for nuclear reactors,
(34:21):
looking at adding some additional natural gas plants to the mix,
and even keeping some of their older coal fire plants
still active and operational for the coming years forward. This
is the wind power is labeled as quote not an
economically viable resource for customers through twenty forty in the
(34:42):
updated report according to Duke Energy, but the utility does
note that it will reassess wind in its next planned update,
which will be coming out in about two years. Changes
in Washington, d C. From the Trump administration and changes
here in North Carolina with some of our legislation dealing
with renewable energy and also dealing with carbon and emission
(35:05):
goals have opened the door for Duke Energy to get
back to some of these more reliable forms of energy
and electrical generation. You can read some additional details on
that story by visiting our website This Morning Carolina Journal
dot com. That's gonna do it for a Thursday edition.
WBT News is next followed by Good Morning BT. We're
back with you tomorrow morning five to six right here
(35:28):
on News Talk eleven ten and ninety nine to three
WBT
It's five oh four and welcome into a Thursday edition
of the Carolina Journal Newsurduce Talk eleven ten ninety nine
to three WBT. I'm Nick Craig. A good morning to you.
We are now in day two of a federal government shutdown,
as a Senate vote on Wednesday failed to reopen the
government after it shut down as the clock struck in
(00:29):
twelve oh one am Wednesday morning. This is after many
federal agencies have begun their process of sloping or cutting
down on their workforces and begin shut down operations. We
learned some additional details about that yesterday. Here's the situation
that we're in right now. The Republican controlled House passed
(00:50):
a bill earlier in the month of September that would
keep the government funded at current levels through November the
twenty first of this year. Senate Democrats, however, refuse to
support this clean continuing resolution in an effort to force
Republicans to negotiate on the Affordable Care Act and Affordable
(01:10):
Care Act subsidies that are set to expire at the
end of the calendar year. Republicans do have the majority
in the United States Senate, but do need support from Democrats.
To reach that sixty vote filibuster to overcome that. The
most recent vote still just fifty five votes in favor
of the Continuing Resolution, so still a multiple vote.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Sure.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
We are going to continue to keep a close eye
on this as the impasse continues, both the sides digging
their heels into the sand pretty clearly with this government
shut down. The Senate will be back once again this
morning to take additional votes on this continuing Resolution. We'll
continue to track the details and keep you up to
date with everything you need to know right here on
(01:56):
the Carolina Journal News Hour, where it's now five h
six News ten ninety nine to three WBT. There's been
a lot of national discussion over the last couple of
years about renewable energy and is that sustainable? Is it
affordable for electrical grids across the United States. We've got
a pretty substantial story this morning on the Carolina Journal
News Hour out of Duke Energy, the state's largest electrical
(02:19):
producer and provider, and some new filings with the North
Carolina Utilities Commission. To walk us through some of those details.
Mitch Coki with the John Locke Foundation joins us on
the Carolina Journal News Hour Mitch, it looks like Duke
is maybe shying away from some of these renewable energy
sources that have been a major political discussion for lawmakers
all the way from Raleigh down here to North Carolina.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
Well, certainly they're changing the mix of the types of
energy sources that they want to use moving forward. You
mentioned the renewable sources. One of the major ones, of course,
is solar power, and Duke's latest filing really kind of
stays the course on what it plans to do with solar,
but they would do nothing in terms of wind power
(03:03):
during the course of the time period that's covered in
this filing, which is something that will be bad news
to people who are advocates of wind power. Basically, what
happened here is that Duke is required every two years
to talk about what mix of energy that it wants
to use moving forward. It files this plan with the
(03:24):
state regulators. The Utilities Commission will look at the plan,
hold hearings, and then decide whether Duke gets to comply
with its plan or has to tweak it in some way.
And the major change with this version of the plan
compared to the one that was filed a couple of
years ago. Is that Duke really takes more a greater
(03:45):
look at nuclear energy and also ramping up natural gas
and also extending coal power. Remember that coal power is
the type of power that's been targeted most for a shutdown.
What Duke is saying in its latest plan is, let's
try to extend by two to four years some of
(04:05):
these coal plants that otherwise might be shut down, and
especially targeting plants that can have multiple fuel sources. So
this might be a plant that could run run on coal,
but can also run on natural gas. And so if
you can extend the coal plant for a couple of
years or more, that might extend the useful life of
(04:26):
a plant that could eventually convert over to natural gas.
There are a couple of big headlines beyond just the
fact that it's ramping up the support of these natural
gas and nuclear and coal options, and that is the
Duke says that this is meeting a much greater demand
(04:47):
for electricity than was even predicted a couple of years ago.
They say the growth in the demand for electricity is
going to be multiple times higher over the next fifteen
years as it was over the previous fifteen years, and
so by being able to shift toward the nuclear and
toward extending coal and to natural gas. That's going to
(05:09):
end up helping customers in terms of the bottom line.
The estimate from this filing is that the average annual
increase in bills for customers will be two percent, which
might sound that like that's not that great because you're
going to see costs go up, But they say that's
much less than it would have been if Duke stuck
(05:32):
with the mix of energy sources that were called for
in the previous plan. If you went with that previous plan,
which is calling for quicker phase out of coal, trying
to get much more solar, and not relying as heavily
on things like nuclear natural gas, that the prices for
the consumers would have been much higher. So the big
(05:54):
headlines are in addition to the increased emphasis on clear
and the natural gas and extending the life of coal,
it's also the Duke says that this will be more
cost effective for the consumers and it will help deal
with a major increase in electricity demand, far beyond what
(06:15):
was even predicted a couple of years ago.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
Mitch, there's a couple of other things to deconstruct here.
You talk about this demand, and this is not just
a purely academic discussion. We saw Christmas Eve back a
couple of years ago issues with the North Carolina power
grid due to some extremely cold temperatures that time of year,
causing some black and brownouts throughout portions of North Carolina.
(06:38):
The state continually is near the top or at the
top of CNBC's number one state for business. You've got
manufacturing that's moving here. AI data centers have been in
the news a lot nationally and internationally over the last
couple of months, and the incredible amount of electrical demand
that those facilities are require to do all of the
(06:59):
computer algorithms and checks and things that are done in
those AI data centers. This is huge for the future
growth of North Carolina. If we don't have a sustainable
energy system, you can't imagine that any business would be
looking at the tar heel state for any growth or expansion.
Speaker 3 (07:16):
That's right. If we don't have the energy to provide
to these businesses and to the data centers and all
of the people who want to live in North Carolina,
we're not going to be as attractive. Two folks who
are thinking about relocating to North Carolina and thinking about
whether they could stay here one of the other things.
And Duke didn't really emphasize it in its announcement, but
(07:38):
John Sanders, who's the director of the Center for Food,
Power and Life at the John Locke Foundation, certainly did
when he looked at this and commented on it for
the story that appears at Carolina Journal dot com, and
that is this is in some ways a reaction to
Senate Bill two sixty six, the Power Bill Reduction Act
(08:00):
that the North Carolina General Assembly approved in July over
Governor Josh Stein's vito and that bill basically said we're
going to get rid of this seventy percent carbon emissions
reduction goal that was put in place several years ago.
This was a goal that was a sort of an
interim goal in place for twenty thirty on the way
(08:22):
to a larger goal of net zero emissions by twenty fifty.
And by getting rid of that twenty thirty goal, that
really freed Duke up to make the types of changes
that are called for in this plant. Had we still
had that twenty thirty goal of getting rid of seventy
percent of the emissions, it's almost certain that Duke would
have had to have much costlier realm and mix of
(08:48):
energy sources, and you would not have seen the flexibility
in the plant to be able to have the coal
power plants extended and to see a ramp up of
natural gas. Nuclear, of course, would be fined under any
scenario because it doesn't have emissions. But this certainly, by
passing that Senate Bill two sixty six, despite Governor Josh
(09:08):
Stein's veto that freeze, Duke up to be able to
make these more cost effective measures to address that huge
demand in electricity that you were just talking about. Because
of our booming economy, we.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
Don't have time this morning to relitigate some of the
concerns with offshore wind or electrical generation from these massive turbines.
We've had some of those discussions in the past, Mitch.
They're incredibly expensive, there's huge environmental impacts, and frankly, they're
not incredibly reliable as they are relied on Mother Nature
to produce electricity. But I would also imagine some of
Duke's decision probably has to do with some of the
(09:44):
changes up in Washington, d C. We've seen with the
Trump administration freezing or blocking out some of these federal
offshore win permits here off the coast of North Carolina.
A lot of outrage over the last three or four
years for folks in southeastern North Carolina off the What
County coast about some leasing programs that the federal government
was set to a lease out to various providers to
(10:07):
build these wind turbines. It seems like that is at
least on pause now from the federal level, So it
seems like maybe even if Duke wanted to continue down
that path, they may have not even had a viable
way to do so.
Speaker 3 (10:19):
Well, you're exactly right about the impact of policy both
at the state level and at the federal level, and
that is something that Duke recognized as it was promoting
its latest plan, said, we looked at what the tax
and regulatory policy is for these different forms of energy,
and because of changes that have happened on Capitol Hill
(10:39):
and have happened in the state capitals in Raleigh and Columbia,
that's one of the reasons why they came up with
the mix of options that they did. And you referenced
wind power, and basically Duke has a very complicated discussion
of its various looks at nuclear and natural gas, and
you have to know a lot of the jargon and
(11:00):
to be able to understand much of it, but you
can really understand the wind power assessment, which was wind
power doesn't make sense any time between now and twenty
forty and a lot of that is because it's no
longer being looked at as a viable energy source from
the federal government as it was when the Biden administration
(11:21):
was in place. Had the Biden administration been in place
and you still had some of the incentives for looking
at wind power, perhaps Duke might have put something about
wind power into its plan. But now that those are
gone and the Trump administration has looked at wind power
much more realistically, Duke also has a chance to look
(11:41):
at wind power realistically and say, look, from the timeframe
that we're looking at wind power doesn't make sense. Doesn't
mean it might not make sense sometime in the future,
but it doesn't make sense now.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
This is a very impactful story and will effect, as
you noted, Mitch, ratepayers all across the state of North Carolina,
whether you're talking about your house, your apartment, your your
business complex, pretty much affecting anybody that purchases electricity from
Duke Energy. You can read some additional details on our website.
This morning, Carolina Journal dot com. We appreciate the update.
Mitch Koki from the John Locke Foundation joins us on
(12:14):
the Carolina Journal News Hour. It's twenty three minutes past
the hour. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour.
News stock eleven ten ninety nine three WBT. As we
are now into the month of October, the fall wildfire
season has begun across North Carolina, and the North Carolina
(12:36):
Forest Service is reminding residents to use practices recommended by
the Forest Service to reduce the risk of wildfires. This
has been a major discussion throughout the entirety of this year.
The wildfire risk is, of course, due to all of
the debris in the western half of North Carolina left
in the wake of Hurricane Helene, and Agricultural Commissioner Steve
(12:59):
Trucks are set in a press release this week, quote
Wildfire prevention and risk reduction are two important areas that
each of us has the ability to directly impact. Sometimes
a wildfire is inevitable due to circumstances beyond our control,
such as lightning strikes or down power lines. However, most
(13:19):
of our wildfires are avoidable, as human activity continues to
be responsible for more than ninety nine percent of all
wildfire causes here Across the Tar Heel State. The fall
wildfire season runs October through early December, and there are
two primary wildfire seasons, one in the spring, one in
(13:39):
the fall. Earlier this year, we brought you details from
Steve Troxler as he told state lawmakers that North Carolina,
as it stands this year, is the number one state
in the nation at risk for wildfires, and the North
Carolina Forest Service responded to more than fifty six thousand
wildfires burning more than thirty four thousand acres between July one,
(14:03):
twenty twenty four and June thirtieth of this year. According
to a recent press release. This includes the wildfires that
ravage western North Carolina earlier this year. The leading ignition
source for human caused wildfires include the use of machines
and vehicles, backyard debris burning, arson, and escaped campfires. Now,
(14:25):
the Forest Service does have a lengthy recommendation process for
folks to keep an eye on. You can read those
details over in the story on our website, Carolina Journal
dot com. We've also got some additional details from Steve Troxler,
who says, quote, We've just surpassed the one year mark
since Hurricane Helene unleased significant devastation on so many of
(14:48):
our citizens and natural resources. Being prepared for wildfires is
more important than ever, especially in western North Carolina. We're
more than eight hundred thousand acres of four forest land
were damaged, leaving substantial fuel on the ground. Please do
your part to prevent and prepare for wildfires. Prescribe burns
(15:10):
have been one of the most effective forms of wildfire management,
not just here here in North Carolina, but across the country,
and North Carolina is one of eleven southern states with
a burn manager certification program. According to Margaret Young from
the Fiscal Division Research of the North Carolina General Assembly,
(15:30):
the Forest Service receives around a million dollars a year
in recurring funds from the state budget, which is appropriated
by the General Assembly two fund the Prescribe burn Cost
Share Program. This program supports private forest owners in covering
the cost of prescribe burns as a form of forestry management.
(15:52):
During the fiscal year twenty twenty four, one hundred and
seventy burns occurred on more than eight thousand acres. This
is private land. Seventy seven percent of that we're one
hundred acres or less. And the cast share reimbursement was
handled through the North Carolina General Assembly, giving that money
to the North Carolina Forest Service. Troxler told lawmakers earlier
(16:16):
this year, quote, I want you to note today that
we are not prepared to handle a massive wildfire situation,
especially in the mountains of North Carolina. Helene put a
tremendous load of fuel on the ground. Trees and limbs
are laying there, and it's not going to go away.
In fact, as it drives more and more, the fire
danger is going to get worse, and it's not going
(16:38):
to be just a one year thing. It's probably going
to take at least three years for a lot of
that material to rod out to the point that it
is not a tremendous fire hazard. So this is something
that we are keeping a close eye on. We did
see some pretty wild no pun intended, some pretty wild
fires earlier this year burning in the western half of
(16:59):
North Carolina, some just across the state line. A major
wildfire burning just to the west of the Myrtle Beach,
North Myrtle Beach area earlier this year. So the wildfire
season has officially begun across the state of North Carolina.
We'll keep an eye on that and again encourage you
for folks that do do some of those outdoor burns,
(17:20):
those that are camping, so on and so forth. There's
a huge list of recommendations and things that you can
do to be greater prepared over on our website this morning,
Carolina Journal dot com. That story's headline n see top
fire risk state as fallfire season begins. You can read
all of those details by visiting our website Carolina Journal
(17:41):
dot com. It's five thirty five. Welcome back to the
Carolina Journal News Hour, Newstock eleven, ten ninety nine three WBT.
We've got an interesting legal story out of our state
capitol this morning and the ce state. The University of
(18:01):
North Carolina has filed a lawsuit against chemical giant Monsanto
over toxic chemicals found at the university's Poe Hall building.
Back in twenty twenty three. Poe Hall, which housed the
College of Education and the Department of Psychology, was shut
down after tests detected high levels of PCBs, a chemical
(18:25):
widely used in construction until it was banned in the
United States in the late nineteen seventies. The lawsuit, which
was filed in Wake County yesterday by NC State, alleges
that Monsanto quote marketed PCB mixtures to the building industry
while representing them as non texas, non toxic, and non volatile,
(18:46):
despite internal knowledge dating back decades that PCBs are toxic, persistent,
and prone to migrate and contaminate indoor environments. This suit
is massive. It seeks hundreds of millions of dollars in
remediation costs for the building, plus punitive damages and legal fees,
while also holding Monsanto liable from any future personnel injury claims.
(19:11):
And this is relevant because NC State has already faced
legal challenges over PCB exposure from students and employees over
the last year or so. The lawsuit reads, in part,
Monsanto never advised NC State or the public that its
PCB products would inevitably leach, leak, afmit, discharge, and release PCBs,
(19:35):
particularly in such a manner that requires remediation, despite being
used for their ordinary and intended use. Had Monsanto adequately
warned NC State prior to the construction of Poe Hall
NC State would have not allowed the use of the
building material with PCBs in the construction process. The Chancellor
(19:57):
of North Carolina State University, Kevin Howell, set in a
press release that this is simply about accountability, writing, since
I joined as chancellor in May, a vacant, contaminated instruction
hall has caused much concern and worry for many, as
it has been sitting idle and must be remediated. This
(20:17):
lawsuit is about responsibility and accountability for the cleanup of
this building so that we can get our students back
to learning. In the meantime, along with concerned students, faculty,
and staff, we are eagerly awaiting results from a pending
environmental report. Built it back in nineteen seventy one, before
the federal ban on PCB's PO Hall was constructed with
(20:40):
material containing the chemicals. Environmental testing that happened in both
twenty twenty three and twenty twenty four found PCB levels
in the building's HVAC system that exceeded EPA standards. UNC
System President Peter Hans applauded the university for taking legal action, saying, quote,
(21:00):
this legal action is just the right thing to do,
and I applaud NC State for taking this step. Countless
people are understandably fearful and concerned about the university and
taxpayers as they face a nine figure bill. This lawsuit
is about assigning accountability and responsibility where it properly belongs.
(21:22):
This is going to be a long process. Engineers already
say that fixing Poe Hall will require the building to
be almost completely demolished and then rebuilt. Rather than waiting
for that lawsuit to play out. NC State has reported
that they have already started remediation efforts, as officials say
that that work is necessary to comply with federal law
(21:43):
and ensure that the contaminated building does not sit idle,
which would be in violation of EPA standards. Monsanto has
been in the news a lot over the last ten
or fifteen years, with a lot of lawsuits over some
of the chemicals that they make. Now you've got a
North Carolina state universe, the NC State suing the chemical giant.
You can read some additional details on that story this
(22:05):
morning by visiting our website Carolina Journal dot com. The
story's headline NC State suz Mon Santo over toxic chemicals
in Poe Hall. It's now five point thirty nine. You're
listening to the Carolina Journal News Hour. When you voted
last November, you may have noticed some individuals sitting alongside
the polling location. Those individuals are called poll observers. They
(22:26):
are nominated by both the Republican and Democrat party in
counties all across North Carolina to do exactly what their
name states, observe what's going on in voting or polling locations.
That was and does continue to be a traditional and
typical task during a general in midterm elections. However, for
municipal elections, things are a little bit different. To walk
(22:47):
us through a recent decision from the North Carolina State
Board of Elections, Andy Jackson with the John Locke Foundation
joins us on the Carolina Journal News Hour. Andy, for
last year's election, you had Republicans and Democrats on the ballot,
Republican and Democrat pole observers, things get a little dicey, however,
when you go into non partisan municipal elections, many of
(23:07):
which are taking place coming up here a little bit
later on this year.
Speaker 2 (23:11):
Right, and what the stems from is an interpretation of
a law that was passed in twenty twenty three seven
forty seven, and it's said that parties could nominate observers
when they had candidates from their party on the ballot,
and so the State Board of Elections executive director at
(23:33):
the time, Karen Princeton Bell, interpreted that to mean that
the parties could only have observers if there was a
nominee of their party on the ballot at the time.
And a lot of municipalities do not have partisan elections,
you know, school boards don't have partisan elections, and so
under that interpretation, the parties couldn't appoint observers. But you know,
(23:56):
we do know that these municipal elections are really important.
We do know that both parties, even if they don't
have official nominees, are often neck deep in this election.
They encourage people to run, and so, you know, folks
were expecting that they'd be able to have observers in
these elections to make sure that they're satisfied that the
(24:17):
election was run properly.
Speaker 1 (24:19):
And even though later on this year, some folks might
not see ours or d's next to individuals' names, Andy,
there is a very high probability that every one of
the candidates on the ballot is likely registered with the
Republican or Democrat party. So while it doesn't appear on
the ballot, many of these individuals are strict partisans and
are as you noted, actively engaged in working with their
(24:41):
local Democrat Party or their local GOP.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
Right. Yeah, that's true, and so what you have here
is you have the parties are very much involved. We
also know that people that with a partisan registration do
tend to be more active in voting. They also tend
to be more active and running for either part of
or nonpartisan races, and so you could expect that at
(25:04):
least the majority, if not you know, all on the
ballot are people with one party or the other, and
so you know, the parties have a stake in this outcome,
both from a policy perspective and also because you know,
these municipal elections are kind of like farm teams for
later on elections for the state legislature or our state
(25:26):
wide office.
Speaker 1 (25:28):
Andy, can you go through the process kind of erasing
what we're talking about with partisan versus non partisan? Can
you explain briefly the benefit of having pole observers from
both major political parties in voting locations all across one
hundred counties here in North Carolina.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
Well, there's a couple of them. The first one is
that you have this extra set of eyes on the process.
You know, election workers are busy checking voters in going,
you know, getting them their ballot, helping them get the
ballot into to be counted, and so this is an
extra set of eyes to make sure that everything is
(26:06):
running at is supposed to run, and so that helps
the actual election integrity. There's also the comfort level of voters,
especially partisan voters, voters from both the Democratic and Republican parties,
if they have their people in watching and those people
don't see a problem with the process, that helps reassure
(26:26):
voters that everything is on the up and up.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
Earlier this year, we saw some changes to the North
Carolina State Board of Elections. Previously a three to two
Democrat two Republican majority, that has now changed. It is
a three to two Republican over Democrat majority, a new
executive director. What do we learn from their meeting earlier
this week as it relates to these pole observers for
the upcoming municipal elections.
Speaker 2 (26:52):
Well, basically what they did is so the Karen Brinston Belle,
the former executive director, dominated by a Democratic majority a
place where Sam Hayes were appointed by the new Republican majority,
and essentially Hayes reinterpreted the rules and put it up
to a vote of the board, and I believe it
was a four to one vote. We had at least
(27:13):
one Democrat also supporting this change. And so they reinterpreted
that law to mean that it wasn't necessarily a nominee
of the party as long as it was a person
affiliated with that party. So somebody registered Republican or registered Democrat,
as long as they have that, then they can appoint unbserver. Now,
this would also perhaps ironically encourage the parties to make
(27:36):
sure they have at least one person on the ballot,
because you need to have a person from your party
on the ballot in order to be qualified to a
point of observers. It's an important change, and it's going
to allow the parties to kind of do the function
that they're used to doing as far as appointing observers
and making sure that the election process is run as
it is supposed to be run.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
Now Here in North Carolina we have these states of
elections kind of the overarching entity, but Andy in every
one hundred counties are all one hundred counties, I should
say there are county board of Elections. Those are the
groups that are actually responsible for facilitating early voting, election day,
all of the various things that voters go through throughout
that process. This decision is coming pretty close to the
(28:19):
start of the early voting period that kicks off here
not too long from now. Election day is just right
around the corner. I think the intention is to have
this squared away for this election cycle, but we're running
very close to some of these deadlines to not only
get these pole observers nominated but trained in the process.
This is really going to come down to the wire.
Speaker 2 (28:39):
It really is. And you know, as we've already had
a round of elections in September, and you do have
you do have to have a gateway before nominating people.
It may be too late in some counties to have
people ready and get them nominated for early voting. They
certainly should be able to have them ready for election day.
But of course, most of the these poll observers, there's new
(29:01):
people every year, just like there's a new election workers
every year, but most of these folks are people that
already have experience as observers, so that aspect of it
won't be too much of a problem as far as
getting them trained and knowing what to do. It's just
you know, meeting those legal requirements and deadlines and you know,
calling people saying, hey, I didn't think that we'd be
(29:23):
able to appoint you to as an observer, but can
you go ahead and serve on such and such a date.
So there is a logistical hurdle that the parties are
going to have to overcome to get those observers in.
Speaker 1 (29:33):
It's an interesting story. We've got some additional coverage this
morning over on our website Carolina Journal dot com. We
appreciate the information and the insight from doctor Andy Jackson
with the John Locke Foundation, who joins us on the
Carolina Journal News Hour. Good morning again, it's five point
fifty two. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News our
(29:55):
new stock eleven ten ninety nine three wb D. Keeping
an eye on our big story we've been following over
the last couple of days, Day two of a federal
government shutdown, as a Senate vote to reopen the government
did fail yesterday. This is ours after many federal agencies
began the process of ceasing their operations at least temporarily,
(30:17):
as the government has now officially shut down. As we
were learning some additional details this morning, the Senate will
once again try to convene today to pass the Republican
led CR that's the continuing resolution to keep the government
funded through November the twenty first. Both sides have dug
their heels into the sand pretty heavily on this one,
(30:38):
so we'll keep an eye on the details over the
next couple of days and provide you updates as soon
as we get them right here on the Carolina Journal
News Hour. In some statewide news this morning, a Duke Energy,
in a new two year long rage energy modernization plan,
is set to rely more heavily on nuclear power, natural gas,
(30:59):
and call. This plan was filed Wednesday with the North
Carolina Utilities Commission, and the plan holds the line on
solar commitments but calls for no use of wind power
moving forward. Duke's new twenty twenty five Carolina Resource plan
projects an average two point one percent annual increase in
customer's power bills, lower than the rate of inflation and
(31:23):
significantly less than projected costs for the previously approved plan.
According to the power utility. It is important to note
that state regulators do have to approve Duke's plan before
the utility can proceed. Those hearings will be scheduled and
take place in twenty twenty six, Duke writes in their
(31:43):
plan quote. This plan reflects rising electrical demand across the
Carolinas at an unprecedented pace. Across the Carolina's customer energy
needs over the next fifteen years are expected to grow
at eight times the growth rate of the prior fifteen years.
To put that in perspective, that growth alone is more
(32:04):
than double the energy use forecasted when the twenty twenty
three Carolina Resource Plan was initially filed. The updated plan
adapts to significant policy changes at both the state and
federal level. According to a press release from Duke, both
North and South Carolina have approved recent legislation emphasizing reliability
(32:27):
of electrical generation. Meanwhile, changes at the federal levels support
advanced nuclear and battery storage and provide flexibility for existing
coal and new natural gas generation. Changes from the twenty
twenty three plan include adding light water nuclear reactors or
LLWR technology for evaluation along with SMR. These are small
(32:51):
modular reactors Duke has targeted potential twenty thirty seven in
service dates for an SMR generation plant in North Carolina
and another one of these light water nuclear reactors in
Cherokee County, South Carolina. Duke would add two natural gas
combustion turbines beyond the twenty twenty three projections. The utilities
(33:15):
now targeting four thousand new megawatts of solar power by
twenty thirty four and maintaining the twenty twenty five procurement
target to maximize customer benefits of remaining federal energy credits
for solar. One of the big things missing from this
plan is offshore wind. This has drawn major controversy in
(33:37):
coastal areas up and down the East coast of the
United States, particularly here in North Carolina. Folks off the
Brunswick County coast of pretty dismayed over the last couple
of years with reports that the federal government would begin
the process of leasing out hundreds of acres of land
just off the shore of the coast for companies like
(33:58):
Duke Energy and others to build a very tall and
very expensive offshore wind turbines. Duke Energy does not include,
as we mentioned, does not include any offshore wind or
any wind generation. In this plan, they are looking at
these new nuclear SMR and LWR technologies for nuclear reactors,
(34:21):
looking at adding some additional natural gas plants to the mix,
and even keeping some of their older coal fire plants
still active and operational for the coming years forward. This
is the wind power is labeled as quote not an
economically viable resource for customers through twenty forty in the
(34:42):
updated report according to Duke Energy, but the utility does
note that it will reassess wind in its next planned update,
which will be coming out in about two years. Changes
in Washington, d C. From the Trump administration and changes
here in North Carolina with some of our legislation dealing
with renewable energy and also dealing with carbon and emission
(35:05):
goals have opened the door for Duke Energy to get
back to some of these more reliable forms of energy
and electrical generation. You can read some additional details on
that story by visiting our website This Morning Carolina Journal
dot com. That's gonna do it for a Thursday edition.
WBT News is next followed by Good Morning BT. We're
back with you tomorrow morning five to six right here
(35:28):
on News Talk eleven ten and ninety nine to three
WBT
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