Podcast

Carolina Journal Radio No. 729: One coastal N.C. county cuts off new solar projects

One coastal North Carolina county is fed up with solar energy operations. Currituck County commissioners have enacted a moratorium on new solar operations. Carolina Journal recently highlighted the commissioners’ concerns. Editor-in-Chief Rick Henderson highlights key points from the Carolina Journal report. Some advocates are pushing North Carolina to engage in “mens rea” reform. “Mens rea”...

Rick Henderson, Dr. Terry Stoops
News

Cooper vetoes hog waste bill, citing property rights concerns

Gov. Roy Cooper on Friday vetoed House Bill 467, a measure limiting damages property owners can receive if they win nuisance lawsuits against nearby hog farms or other agricultural or forestry operations. The bill passed in April. It capped the amount of compensatory damages in those lawsuits at the fair market value of the property...

Rick Henderson
Video

Carolina Journal’s Rick Henderson punctures MIT renewable energy myth

Rick Henderson, Carolina Journal editor-in-chief, addresses a myth about MIT’s use of renewable energy from a facility in North Carolina. Henderson offered these comments during an interview with Donna Martinez for Carolina Journal Radio.

Rick Henderson
News

Hudson praises Trump executive order on offshore energy production

A couple of weeks ago, U.S. Rep. Richard Hudson, R-8th District, asked President Trump to reverse Obama-era regulations that effectively halted oil and gas exploration off the Atlantic coast. Hudson was by the president’s side on Friday when Trump signed The America First Offshore Energy Executive Order. It opens leasing of the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf...

Dan Way
News

Mass. entities claim solar power on N.C. grid will offset carbon use

Three parties are claiming that energy from the 60 megawatt Summit Farms Solar project in Currituck County will offset a portion of their “carbon footprint”: the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Boston Medical Center, and the Post Office Square Redevelopment Corporation. MIT says the solar power purchased from the Currituck facility will equal 40 percent...

Don Carrington
News

Currituck County fed up with solar

Large solar projects haven’t been a good deal for Currituck County residents, says Bobby Hanig, the county commission’s chairman. The developers “have consistently tried to go back on what has been agreed upon in open meetings, and brought on extra work for county staff to ensure they are doing what is asked of them,” he...

Don Carrington

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News

Millis: Tax credits to renewable energy producers = $1.6 billion

UPDATED April 21 to include source of information for total renewable tax credits. State Rep. Chris Millis says the renewable energy industry hoodwinked North Carolina about the costs of giving special deals to renewable producers, which exploded from an initial projection of less than $5 million to $1.6 billion in payouts through 2016. “The magnitude of the...

Dan Way
News

Dixon asks lawmakers to study safety of outdated solar facilities

North Carolina has no plan for disposing of millions of tons of material from solar installations dotting the state. Rep. Jimmy Dixon, R-Duplin, has asked the legislature to study the environmental safety issues associated with closing the facilities. House Bill 319 is set for a vote Wednesday on the House floor. As Dixon presented the...

Dan Way
News

House bill would subject renewable energy to more transparency, market forces

Consumers are paying a lot more than they realize to prop up the renewable energy industry in North Carolina, even though a section of their bills supposedly lists the cost. That’s the contention of Rep. Chris Millis, R-Pender. Last week he introduced a bill requiring a study of the actual subsidies and incentives renewable energy producers...

Dan Way
News

Hog waste bill heads to Senate, stripped of provision helping Smithfield Foods

Rep. Jimmy Dixon, a retired Duplin County hog farmer, pleaded with fellow House members to remember the people who put food on the table. A handful of his Republican colleagues (and several Democrats) said being faithful to the principles of common-law jurisprudence, separation of powers, and property rights outweigh the interests of any single industry,...

Rick Henderson
News

Analysts: Trump energy executive order could reduce power bills

A recent executive order from President Trump could help low-income North Carolinians pay their energy bills. The Energy Independence Executive Order, issued March 28, would reverse the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan. The plan set a national limit on carbon dioxide emissions from power plants, and required states to reduce those greenhouse gases from their...

Dan Way
News

Energy from Amazon Wind Farm doesn’t help N.C. meet renewable mandate

The facility now known as the Amazon Wind Farm was approved by state regulators after they were told it would provide part of the electric power necessary for the state to satisfy renewable energy mandates passed in 2007 by the General Assembly. But it doesn’t supply any of that energy, signaling another instance of what critics consider...

Don Carrington
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