Carolina Journal’s Dan Way reports on a legislative effort to repeal the misguided and costly energy policy known as the renewable energy portfolio standard. The primary sponsor is Rep. Mike Hager (R-Rutherford).
Hager said his bill is a direct response to Senate Bill 3, enacted in 2007. That law mandates implementation of a statewide renewable portfolio standard requiring power companies to purchase solar, wind, biomass products, swine, and poultry waste.
Hager said S.B. 3 hits North Carolina residents with a triple whammy. Most obvious is a higher power bill paid by homeowners, he said. Utility companies simply pass along the higher renewable energy costs to consumers.
But state residents also pay more as taxpayers because of increased costs to power city, county, and state buildings. And they pay more for every product purchase “because every business has that (renewable energy cost) embedded into their product cost now,” Hager said.
Nailing down hard numbers on how much implementation of S.B. 3 has cost the state has been elusive, Hager said.
But based on the fiscal note — a financial impact analysis attached to spending legislation — “My calculations show from 2008 to 2012 we spent about $260 million,” Hager said. And the cost for higher electric bills for city, county, and state buildings is $50 million, he said.
