Duke Energy

A nonprofit called Citizens for NC Jobs paid for mailers praising Democratic lawmakers who broke with their party to back legislation that would shift costs and risks from the utility’s industrial customers to its residential customers. The nonprofit is tied to the state’s leading business lobby, where Duke Energy is a prominent member.

Last week North Carolina Democrats held a “bill funeral” in Raleigh for proposals Republican leadership refused to advance, including a bill that would have stopped Duke Energy and other utilities from charging customers for political spending. The N.C. Consumer Protection Act would have strengthened prohibitions barring Duke Energy and other investor-owned utilities from charging customers for political...

North Carolina lawmakers this week will begin considering the nomination to the North Carolina Utilities Commission of Donald van der Vaart, whose wife’s work would present potential conflicts of interest for him in this role, and who has been a lightning rod for controversy due to extreme positions questioning humans’ role in driving climate change....

After spending the past half-decade scaling up efforts to diversify their workforces and suppliers as well as making and touting donations to social justice organizations, corporate utilities across the U.S. have begun to water down or abandon their commitments to promote diversity within their businesses and better serve communities of color. The retreat coincides with...