wind

A bill before the General Assembly would restore the state's protection of North Carolina's top stakeholders in electricity policy: the consumers. Such protection is absolutely vital.

Calling this thing is "an example for other states" is like calling Wile E. Coyote an example for other bird watchers and rock climbers. It's an example of what not to do to your people. North Carolinians need their legislators to avoid Virginia's folly.

A "phase out" of all nuclear power plants in America is a part of Sanders' climate plan. It's a colossally bad idea. For that matter, so is banning hydraulic fracking, and Sanders recently introduced legislation to do just that.

Much of the structure of a wind turbine can be reused, but not the massive blades. And figuring out what to do with those will be a huge problem with enormous expenses.

North Carolinians are really stuck because we have the highest rates in the Southeast for QFs, the longest contracts in the Southeast for QFs, fixed rates, and 60 percent of the nation's QFs.

In the ensuing decades, deregulation, open access, a multitude of state and federal incentives for solar and wind power, and the onset of fracking have dramatically changed the energy scene here. Domestic energy resources are plentiful.

Even as solar advocates boasted that solar's costs are plummeting, North Carolina's PURPA terms were locking state ratepayers into a situation where they're forced to buy all solar energy produced at exorbitant costs that go well past the actual production costs. It's a great way to make money, but no way to treat captive consumers of a vital necessity.

Research shows this to be a stark choice: higher energy prices costs lives, and lower energy prices saves lives. Playing politics with energy prices plays with people's lives.