Once again, Duke Energy is looking to get out of its commitments!

Contact your state legislator today and ask them to VOTE NO to H347!

House Bill H347 removes the existing coal ash recycling requirement if the entire recycling process is not profitable for Duke Energy. That places Duke’s profit margins over protecting North Carolina families and drinking water from coal ash pollution.

Additionally, the bill deprives our state’s construction industry of much-needed recycled ash. The concrete industry, which badly needs additional coal ash now to make high quality, stronger concrete and will continue to need more and more recycled ash as coal plants are retired or burn less coal in favor of natural gas. Because Duke Energy has refused to supply the concrete industry with sufficient quantities of ash, North Carolina’s concrete companies have been forced to import coal ash from China and other countries in recent years.

This bailout provision also relies on an outdated report by a utility trade group for Duke Energy that seriously underestimates demand for recycled coal ash. This report estimates demand based only on the inadequate amounts of ash Duke Energy has given to concrete manufacturers in the past, which has left them desperate for more ash than they could obtain from Duke and forced them to import ash or simply use less. By contrast, an NC State study cited by the concrete manufacturers of North Carolina, found that demand was about twice as much as the Duke Energy report claimed. This year, an update to the NC State analysis shows that the original NC State estimates were accurate – contradicting the Duke Energy study. There is an even stronger demand of 959,000 tons for the most recent year. This bill ignores the concrete manufacturers’ real need for ash in favor of bailing out Duke Energy.

To find your legislator and contact them, click this link:
http://www.ncleg.net/representation/WhoRepresentsMe.aspx