Last Wednesday, a group of more than 20 NC State students stood in on Duke Energy CEO Lynn Good’s lecture in Nelson Hall to protest and condemn the company’s obstruction of the Energy Freedom Act of 2015, which is currently awaiting approval in the NC House of Representatives.

The proposed act would become effective on July 1, and would open up the monopoly market of energy sales in North Carolina to the third-party sale of electricity. The bill would also permit renewable energy companies to build solar or wind-power systems on customers’ property and bill customers directly for the electricity. 

Current law requires the sale of any power from any independent power producer be made to the local utility, primarily Duke Energy, for distribution and resale. It should come as no surprise that Duke Energy is lobbying to stop this bill. 

If passed, the bill would also give the North Carolina Utilities Commission the authority to “approve a new schedule of fees or credits for customers who choose to use distributed energy resources, whether through ownership, lease or through power purchase agreement, with a utility or nonutility provider.”  This is a double-edged sword, and will allow the NCUC the power to approve a separate, discriminatory tariff for “net metering” customers. Net metering is a billing mechanism that credits solar energy system owners for the electricity they add to the grid. 

This potential for a separate tariff paves the way for stripping North Carolinians of the credit they deserve for investing in solar for their own roofs, according to PR Newswire. Additionally, some of the language in the third section of the bill would allow the NCUC to create a separate rate class for rooftop solar customers, thus providing a vehicle for solar taxes.

Advocates of the bill have generally overlooked this language, and this indicates a certain blindness in the act’s supporters. Two things should happen at this point: Duke Energy should end its lobbying against the Energy Freedom Act of 2015, and the third section of the bill should face amendments. 

In addition, North Carolina lawmakers have proposed the Energy Investment Act, which would extend the tax credit of 35 percent of the costs of a renewable energy project until the year 2020. This is the most generous state incentive in the nation. This tax credit has played a major role in boosting North Carolina to the second state in the nation in new solar-energy construction last year.

However, is the vague nature of the Freedom of Energy Act a sneaky ploy to lessen this tax incentive? Will the “fees or credits for customers who choose to use distributed energy resources” that will be governed by the NCUC become tariffs that will restrict the distribution of solar power by making them more expensive for the consumers? These questions need to be addressed, and the specifics of the act need to be elaborated in order to garner the support of the conscientious lawmaker. 

It would behoove us to consider the whole picture of what our state legislature is agreeing on rather than just pieces at a time that risk confusion or provide vague language that powerful parties may manipulate. 

This is not to say that reason for taxation does not exist, nor that taxation itself should be abolished. However, the fear of outrageous tariffs is entirely justified. Clean energy initiatives have worked when incentivized, and unclear language may stop significant growth in solar energy use in North Carolina. 

This bill is important because we need to stop allowing an energy company to have the power to govern our state as Duke Energy does. The Energy Freedom Act of 2015 has the power to rebalance energy distribution in North Carolina. With these benefits comes the potential to create tariffs or taxes that counter the initiative to incentivize clean and renewable power. These words that may seem inconsequential have the potential to take away our rights and liberties, and even cheat us out of money. The Energy Freedom Act of 2015 is well-intentioned, but has been commandeered by the NCUC. It’s important that we take a stand and don’t let lawmakers sneak in the bad with the good.