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Welcome to Under the Dome. I’m Ronni Butts, here to give you the latest in North Carolina politics.
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As cost of living skyrockets across the state, utility costs are becoming an increasing burden on North Carolinians. Democratic senators in the state legislature say some of their constituents are making a choice they shouldn’t have to make: deciding between prescriptions, food and utilities.
At a press conference Thursday, Sen. DeAndrea Salvador, from Mecklenburg County, said more than 350,000 North Carolinians are at risk of having their utilities disconnected by Duke Energy. The regulated monopoly has come under fire in recent weeks after proposing a utility rate hike. Though the company backpedaled Tuesday and reduced the rate increase, lawmakers said the company is still asking too much from residents.
“Is the profit Duke Energy earns actually fair to the people of North Carolina?” Sen. Michael Garrett of Guilford County asked. “Because our system should answer to the family at the kitchen table, not the shareholder watching the dividend. Duke’s investors are not the ones choosing between prescriptions and groceries.”
Sen. Natalie Murdock, who represents Durham and Chatham counties, said the state already prevents utility companies from shutting off utilities during cold months in many cases. So, she is pushing for legislation that would prohibit Duke Energy from shutting off utilities if the National Weather Service declares a heat emergency.
This, she said, would be especially beneficial for seniors who live on a fixed income.
“We really need to look at the human element, as opposed to inflation,” Murdock told The News & Observer at the press conference. “Instead of potentially subjecting someone to an actual heat stroke, we think that the same way that they look at the policy they have for frigid temperatures, they can look at that in the summer.”
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Sen. Lisa Grafstein, of Wake County, proposed another bill, which would require large energy users to pay into a fund that goes toward grid improvements. This would limit the utility bills for residential customers. The bill also keeps data center development in mind, Grafstein said.
“SB 1026 says that if data centers shut down early, they’re still responsible for paying back the cost of infrastructure built for them, so we’re not stuck with the bill,” she said. “We’ve been hearing a lot about data centers coming and the costs that are going to be involved … now is the time for us to get ahead of them.”
House Speaker Destin Hall said he and other Republican leadership are making “tremendous progress” on the state budget, which is just days away from being a year overdue.
“It’s still possible that we can vote on the budget next week,” Hall told reporters. “If we don’t get to vote on it next week, it probably will end up being just because of the drafting process and the time it takes.”
Hall and Senate leader Phil Berger told reporters that final decisions haven’t been made on appropriations for various capital projects like building a children’s hospital in Apex. Policies have not held up budget negotiations, Hall told The News & Observer.
Berger said that the timeline for completing the budget isn’t entirely clear.
“Next week’s getting closer and closer, and we’re still not there,” Berger told reporters. “So I don’t want to say anything, because I don’t know anything specifically as to when we’ll get things done.”
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That’s all for today! We’ll see you tomorrow.