North Carolina lawmakers finalize bill that would scrap 2030 carbon
reduction goal
[June 20, 2025] By
GARY D. ROBERTSON
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina legislators finalized a bill
Thursday that would eliminate an interim greenhouse gas reduction
mandate set in a landmark 2021 law, while still directing regulators to
aim to cancel out power plant carbon emissions in the state within the
next 25 years.
With some bipartisan support, the state Senate voted to accept the House
version that would repeal the 2021 law's requirement that electric
regulators take “all reasonable steps to achieve” reducing carbon
dioxide output 70% from 2005 levels by 2030. The law's directive to take
similar steps to meet a carbon neutrality standard by 2050 would remain
in place.
The bill's Republican supporters pushing the new measure say getting rid
of the interim goal benefits ratepayers asked to pay for future
electric-production construction and is more efficient for Duke Energy,
the state's dominant electric utility.
The bill now goes to Democratic Gov. Josh Stein, who can veto the
measure, sign it or let it become law without his signature. Stein
previously expressed concerns about the Senate version of the measure,
worried that it could hurt electricity users and threaten the state’s
clean-energy economy. His office didn't immediately provide comment
after Thursday's vote.
With over a dozen House and Senate Democrats voting for the final
version, the chances that any Stein veto could be overridden are higher.
Republicans in charge of the General Assembly are only one House seat
shy of a veto-proof majority.
The bill also contains language that would help Duke Energy seek higher
electric rates to cover financing costs to build nuclear or gas-powered
plants incrementally, rather than wait until the project’s end.
The 2021 greenhouse gas law marked a rare agreement on environmental
issues by then-Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and Republican lawmakers.
At least 17 other states — most controlled by Democrats — have laws
setting similar net-zero power plant emissions or 100% renewable energy
targets, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council. North
Carolina and Virginia are the only ones from the Southeast.
The legislation came about as President Donald Trump’s administration
has proposed rolling back federal environmental and climate change
policies, which critics say could boost pollution and threaten human
health. Republicans are promoting them as ways to reduce the cost of
living and boost the economy.
The state Utilities Commission, which regulates rates and services for
public utilities, already has pushed back the 2030 deadline — as the
2021 law allows — by at least four years. The panel acknowledged last
year it was “no longer reasonable or executable” for Duke Energy to meet
the reduction standard by 2030.
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The Shearon Harris nuclear plant is seen in Holly Springs, N.C., on
June 14, 2013. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome, File)
 Bill supporters say to meet the goal
would require expensive types of alternate energy immediately. If
the interim standard can be bypassed, GOP bill authors say, Duke
Energy can assemble less expensive power sources now and moderate
electricity rate increases necessary to reach the 2050 standard.
“Our residents shouldn’t be saddled with higher power bills to
satisfy arbitrary targets,” Republican Senate leader Phil Berger
said in a news release after the vote.
Citing an analysis performed by a state agency that represents
consumers before the commission, GOP lawmakers say removing the
interim goal would reduce by at least $13 billion what Duke Energy
would have to spend — and pass on to customers — in the next 25
years.
Bill opponents question the savings figure given uncertainty in
plant fuel prices, energy demand and construction costs. They say
the interim goal still holds an aspirational purpose and was
something that Duke Energy had agreed in 2021 to meet.
Provisions in the measure related to recouping plant construction
expenses over time would reduce accumulated borrowing interest.
Environmental groups argue the financing option would benefit Duke
Energy's bottom line on expensive projects even if they're never
completed, and the bill broadly would prevent cleaner energy sources
from coming online sooner. They also contend another bill section
would shift costs to residential customers.
“This bill is bad for all North Carolinians, whether they’re Duke
Energy customers or simply people who want to breathe clean air,”
North Carolina Sierra Club director Chris Herndon said after the
vote while urging Stein to veto the measure.
Bill support came from the North Carolina Chamber and a
manufacturers' group, in addition to Duke Energy.
“We appreciate bipartisan efforts by policymakers to keep costs as
low as possible for customers and enable the always-on energy
resources our communities need,” the company said this week.
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