This original article by Cathy Holt appeared in Mountain XPress, June 29, 2017.
At the July 4 Independence From Fossil Fuels gathering at Lake Julian, many T-shirts and signs will ask “Who decides?” Who determines what kind of energy will power our city?
Right now, the answer is “Duke Energy decides.” Duke (the largest electric utility in the U.S.) is a monopoly, so even if Asheville residents want solar, wind and other renewables, the company can build plants that burn fracked gas and raise our electric rates to pay for them. This would lock us into years of dependence on fossil fuel when environmental leaders worldwide are calling for giant steps toward renewable energy to stave off climate disaster. MORE…