Groundswell of Opposition Rolls Through Franklin at Cliffside Rate-Hike Hearing

Standing Room Only Crowd Greets Utilities Commission in Macon County Courthouse

September 22, 2009-Prior to a NC Utilities Commission public hearing outside the Macon County courthouse, in Franklin , Tuesday evening, about 30 opponents of a proposed Duke Energy rate increase staged a brief rally.  Inside Courtroom A there were at least 100 more.

Two weeks ago, the Cherokee Tribal Council passed a resolution in opposition to the rate increase, as did the Swain County Board of Commissioners several weeks earlier. Last week, the Marion City Council passed a similar resolution prior to the hearing the Utilities Commission held there.  Ratepayers throughout Duke Energy’s service area in North Carolina are voicing outrage and opposition to the power company’s request for a 13.5% increase in residential rates to pay for projects including ongoing construction at its controversial new coal-burning power plant at Cliffside, in Rutherford County .  This is in addition to a 4.5% increase already granted in July by the Utilities Commission for the rising cost of coal last year.

Local governments and taxpayers will have to pay even more if the rate increase is passed.  Duke Energy is asking for a 16.7% increase in rates for outdoor street lighting, in addition to the 4.5% fuel cost increase.

“The NC Utilities Commission needs to uphold its responsibility to the people of NC to protect the public interest, provide just utility rates and promote conservation by denying this rate hike for Duke Energy,” said Dr. Richard Fireman of NC Interfaith Power & Light, a program of the NC Council of Churches.

There were six public hearings scheduled statewide by the Utilities Commission.  Increasingly higher turnouts have marked the first five in Charlotte , Durham , High Point , Marion and Franklin . There will be one more in Raleigh on October 19.

While Duke Energy first claimed the 800 megawatt unit at Cliffside was needed to meet growing energy demand in North Carolina , the company has since contracted outside of its service area in South Carolina to sell 1000 megawatts of capacity to an energy co-op.  This is in addition to its attempt to sell 600 megawatts to Orangeburg , SC earlier in the year.  The Orangeburg contract was denied permission by the NC Utilities Commission, but Duke is appealing the decision.  North Carolina ’s energy demand is shrinking, rather than growing as utility industry projections had wrongly predicted. 

As a result, the case for continued construction on the $2.4 billion Cliffside project has been discredited, especially during difficult economic times when many ratepayers can’t afford to pay for an unnecessary power plant.  The Cliffside plant has met strong opposition from its inception because it would use coal derived from mountaintop removal mining; burning coal creates air pollutants that threaten public health and the environment; coal plants use millions of gallons of fresh water for cooling; and burning coal creates huge piles and ponds of highly toxic waste ash and sludge.

“There’s no reason to place this extra burden on electric ratepayers,” said Avram Friedman of the Canary Coalition. “More than 100 new coal plants have been cancelled around the country in the past three years and Cliffside isn’t needed either.  It makes much more sense to implement energy policies that will save ratepayers money, by offering economic incentives to invest in energy efficiency in homes, businesses and industry.”

Groups attending the hearing in Franklin who are opposing the Cliffside rate-hike include the Canary Coalition, Global Warming Task Force of Henderson County, Jackson Action Group, Jackson-Macon Conservation Alliance, NC Interfaith Power & Light (a program of the NC Council of Churches), and Western North Carolina Alliance.

For more information visit www.stopcliffside.org