Letter: WNC needs clean energy plan

While many of us are grappling with the high cost of living, Duke Energy announced that more rate hikes are about to become the reality for so many folks in our state.

Duke Energy is asking regulators to approve hundreds of millions of dollars in additional charges and costs that would raise monthly bills across North Carolina. As extreme weather becomes more frequent and intense, energy demand surges, and when utilities rely on volatile fossil fuels, those costs get passed directly on to us, the customers.

There is a better path. More than 120 members of Congress have backed the Energy Bills Relief Act, a plan to expand access to clean energy like wind, solar and energy efficiency. Because clean energy is more stable and often cheaper, it can help protect families from exactly the kind of price shocks we’re seeing now while also cutting the pollution that’s driving these dangerous, extreme conditions.

For a fast-growing region like Asheville, we need a better energy plan, a clean energy plan.

We should be clear: North Carolinians deserve an energy system that lowers bills, not one that leaves families paying the price for increasingly unpredictable weather.

— Yol Swan
Weaverville