Faith Alliance Says NC Solar Bill Falls Short Of North Carolina’s Needs
Faith in Solar is an alliance of 170 faith leaders determined to find a way for North Carolina faith groups – from the wealthiest to the most cash-strapped – to fulfill their Earth care purpose by using the sun to power their houses of worship.
Since April 2017, together with Durham nonprofit NC WARN, Faith in Solar has reportedly been in conversation with Duke Energy about helping to overcome the obstacle of the upfront cost of solar power equipment. With the help of several technical experts, Faith in Solar proposed a program that would be a win-win for the faith community, the climate, and Duke’s bottom line.
According to Faith in Solar, individuals within Duke have been supportive of their goal of increasing solar energy use by our congregations, the corporate leaders have yet to consider using Faith in Solar’s proposal as a way forward.
Duke Energy encouraged Faith in Solar to wait until the details of House Bill 589 were finalized. Formally titled “Competitive Energy Solutions for NC,” HB589 became law in July 2017. On the surface and as reported in the news media, it looks like a step forward for clean energy, with programs for large-scale solar, community solar, rebates, and leasing.
After reviewing the steps taken to implement HB589, however, Faith in Solar is concerned that the bill’s shortcomings may outweigh its benefits. “It falls well short of the increasingly urgent need for this state to begin replacing fossil fuels with clean power,” they said via a released statement. (see below)
As people of faith, we recognize the need for swift and immediate action on climate change. Scientists say humanity may have only two years before the pace of warming reaches a tipping point that puts the changes beyond human control.
Therefore – like the prophet Jeremiah who asked the people of Jerusalem why they refused to repent from their destructive ways (Jer 8:5), we are asking Duke Energy…
- Why, when leasing was already allowed in North Carolina without limit, does HB589 cap the amount of solar that can be leased?
- Why has Duke Energy not yet applied to the Utilities Commission to be a solar lessor? When will such an application take place?
- Though we appreciate that the rebate you are offering under HB589 benefits individual solar customers, why are these rebates capped every year and why do they end entirely after five years? Indeed, why is every solar program in HB589 capped at a level far lower than what is needed to address climate change?
- The community solar program in HB589 should enable customers to use solar energy even if they cannot install it on their own building or grounds, so why have you proposed a program under which participants will lose money rather than save money? Why have you resisted building more than the 40 megawatts mandated by HB589? Why have you slowed the program to install only 2 megawatts between now and 2021 at a time when climate scientists say that urgent action is needed to avoid catastrophe?
- HB589 calls for you to rework net metering, the program that gives small-scale solar producers credit for excess solar power they put onto the grid. Can you promise us that you will not remove this valuable incentive? Why did you support legislation to cut net metering credits by 65% in Kentucky and to keep a cap on net metering in place in South Carolina?
- According to NC State University professor Harrison Fell, a key HB589 provision “clearly hurts [large-scale] solar developers by reducing … long-range certainty,” while another makes it uncertain that new projects will be economically viable. Why is this so and how can you help to remove these obstacles?
- Why does HB589 contain a 2-year moratorium on wind energy development? Will you support the development of this vital source of energy production when the moratorium ends next year?
- Why does your long-term plan call for only 7% renewables in the Carolinas by 2032?
We come forward as prophetic truth-tellers to remind all citizens that we have a sacred obligation to tend the earth and protect the voiceless – which includes the land scarred by fracking and mining and the polluted air we must breathe.
Why have Duke Energy and the NC General Assembly given us, through HB589, not the solar that we need to curb the worst effects of climate change, not the solar that is technically and economically feasible and could add jobs and dollars to North Carolina’s economy, but a slow path toward solar that seems to imperil people and the planet to protect profits?
This is not a time for pilot projects, nor for programs that mandate incremental measures to decarbonize our economy. Now is the time to act and to do so decisively!
We encourage the public to join us in asking these questions of Duke Energy leadership and of the NC General Assembly, and to demand that they take seriously their responsibility to act in the public interest of the people of North Carolina while there is still time for it to matter.
In the spirit of the prophet Micah (Mic 6:8), we challenge Duke Energy and the legislature to do the just thing by expanding access to solar, the kind thing by protecting our children and grandchildren from the worst effects of climate change, and the humble thing by respecting the earth.
This statement has been signed by the following Faith in Solar Steering Committee members:
Rev. Dr. Rodney S. Sadler, Jr.
Union Presbyterian Seminary, Charlotte
Rev. Dr. Nancy Ellett Allison
Senior Minister
Holy Covenant United Church of Christ, Charlotte
Rev. Jenny Shultz-Thomas
Community United Church of Christ, Raleigh
John Ederer
Imam and Religious Director
Muslim Community Center of Charlotte
Kathy Kaufman
Social Action Chair
Kehillah Synagogue, Chapel Hill
Dr. Gary Smith
Justice in a Changing Climate Chair
Community United Church of Christ, Raleigh
Bob Thomason
Life Deacon/Earthkeeper
Myers Park Baptist Church, Charlotte
Additional signers:
Rev. Karen Richardson Dunn
Creation Justice Network/UCC Southern Conference
Rev. Nelson Johnson
Faith Community Church, Greensboro
Rabbi Jen Feldman
Kehillah Synagogue, Chapel Hill
Rev. Colleen Samson
Minister for Church Affairs
Western North Carolina Association of the Southern Conference of the United Church of Christ
Rev. Dr. Edward Smith Davis
Conference Minister
Southern Conference of the United Church of Christ
Rev. J. Lloyd Spencer
Coordinator of the Missions and Justice Team
Holy Covenant United Church of Christ, Charlotte
Barbara L. Thomas
Minister of Church and Family Life
Holy Covenant United Church of Christ, Charlotte
Gregg Walker, Deacon
Holy Covenant United Church of Christ, Charlotte
Rev. Jerry Rhyne
Holy Covenant United Church of Christ, Charlotte
Rev. Marion Rhyne
Holy Covenant United Church of Christ, Charlotte
Rev. Anne Findlay-Chamberlain
Holy Covenant United Church of Christ, Charlotte
Sue Eldon
Pastor
Saxapahaw United Methodist Church
Dr. Carole Troxler
Elon Community United Church of Christ
Rev. Mark Pickett
Pastor
First Christian United Church of Christ, Burlington
Rev. Dian Griffin Jackson
Mt. Zion United Church of Christ, Rockingham
Rev. Margot Trusty Pickett
Interim Minister
Life’s Journey United Church of Christ, Burlington
Rev. Craig Schaub
Parkway United Church of Christ, Winston-Salem
Bill Donohue
Church Council member
Parkway United Church of Christ, Winston-Salem
Peggy Taylor
Parkway United Church of Christ, Winston-Salem
Ana Tampanna
Parkway United Church of Christ, Winston-Salem