For years, the John Locke Foundation has been—sometimes single-handedly—the biggest advocate for North Carolina taxpayers. With their victories in education, tax policy, regulatory policy, and good government reforms, they’ve made the Tar Heel state more affordable, prosperous, and efficient.
But, in 2017, Gov. Roy Cooper announced a plan to transition huge swaths of North Carolina’s energy grid to unreliable and expensive sources. Those sources included wind and solar. Suddenly, that affordability, prosperity, and efficiency was at risk.
Given the misleading rhetoric from the governor—and wind and solar proponents—Locke’s team knew these so-called “green” reforms would progress quickly. But, fortunately for taxpayers, Locke’s team was ready to champion true, efficient, sustainable, and affordable energy solutions.
Gov. Cooper sold his wind and solar campaign as an effort to cut the state’s electricity-based greenhouse-gas emissions by 70% by 2030.
A laudable goal.
However, it was unclear how the governor’s actual plan would achieve that goal. Also, data showed the governor’s plan would cost North Carolina residents significantly more each year. It also showed that his plan would jeopardize the state’s energy supply and reliability.
Then, after the governor announced his plan, Duke Energy—one of North Carolina’s largest energy providers—announced a “green” plan of its own. Duke’s plan, while not as extreme as the governor’s, would have increased energy costs for North Carolinians by hundreds of dollars a year.
As these plans were coming out, and competing interests battled for the political upper-hand, Locke’s team stepped in as the voice of reason (and taxpayers).
What resulted was a first-of-its-kind research report showing the diverging paths North Carolina’s energy futures were taking. Locke’s report titled, Energy Crossroads: Exploring North Carolina’s two energy futures, not only showed the data and realities of Gov. Cooper’s and Duke’s plans, it showed the obvious solution.
As Locke’s CEO Amy O. Cooke explained in Energy Crossroads, “Intellectual honesty is why we are having to prove the obvious. North Carolinians should have their eyes wide open before being thrust into energy poverty and suffering through rolling brown outs or worse—sustained blackouts. […] Nuclear is the only way to achieve the goals of lower emissions and affordable, reliable power.”
Everyone wants reliable, clean, safe, and affordable energy. The issue—and controversy—lies in how people define reliable, clean, and safe.
An unfortunate reality about the energy debate today is the fact that rhetoric often outweighs facts. As environmentalist and nuclear-energy proponent Michael Schellenberger says, “Curiously, the people who are the most alarmist about the [climate] problems also tend to oppose the obvious solutions.”
Locke’s report not only shows the realities of North Carolina’s energy system, but the solutions moving forward. Some of the biggest revelations from Locke’s report are as follows:
With Energy Crossroads, Locke’s team helped shape North Carolina’s energy debate. They also timed their impact perfectly. Locke released their report the exact same week the General Assembly began taking swift steps to overhaul the state’s energy systems.
The result of Locke’s perfectly timed report was HB951, a bill that would achieve the governor’s goal of 70% emissions reductions by 2030, but in a responsible, affordable, and sustainable way. With HB951, energy realities took priority over political rhetoric.
North Carolina Senate Majority Leader Paul Newton, who was pivotal to the passage of HB 951, said, “The Energy Crossroads [report] was a bit like divine intervention. It gave a data driven answer that was extraordinarily helpful for selling a common-sense path towards carbon reduction for North Carolinians that neither broke the economy nor the poor.”
Former General Assembly research assistant and energy policy expert André Beliveau, who worked directly on HB 951 said, “Without Locke’s Energy Crossroads Report, HB 951, which requires the NC Utilities Commission to select the least costly, most reliable energy plan, would not have been possible. The Energy Crossroads Report was the foundational source we used to frame discussions and craft legislation.”
Quality data does not always translate to sound policy. But the Locke team’s ability to produce the necessary research, develop an effective strategy, and execute their plan resulted in true foundational energy reforms for North Carolinians. Locke’s work also resulted in the 2024 SPN Bob Williams Award for Most Influential Research in the nation.
The John Locke Foundation has long been the champion for North Carolina taxpayers. And, with their Energy Crossroads victory, their impact for taxpayers will be felt for decades to come.
