The climate crisis is an existential threat that all of us face. Instead of investing funds toward renewable energy, Piedmont Natural Gas—a wholly-owned subsidiary of Duke Energy—is seeking to expand fossil fuel infrastructure in the region. To afford this venture, PNG is proposing a rate hike. Customers of Duke Energy should not be forced to foot the bill for fossil fuel industry expansion.

Piedmont Natural Gas is requesting that the North Carolina Utilities Commission impose a rate hike to fund fossil fuel infrastructure expansion. Friends of the Earth, Cape Fear Sierra Club, 350 Wilmington, and other groups will gather to protest this proposal that would not only ignore the push for renewable resources, but would also increase customers’ already steep energy bills.

Here's the facts:

• Fracked gas is dirty, dangerous, and one of the biggest contributors to the climate crisis.
• It makes sea level rise faster, hurricanes stronger, and heat waves hotter.
• Here in Wilmington, that means we are more threatened by hurricanes, flooding, and disappearing beaches, which threatens our economy, our homes, and even our lives.
• Fracked gas is also is linked to negative health effects like premature births, breathing problems, and even cancer.
• Instead of locking us into decades of dependence on polluting fossil fuels, PNG and Duke should invest in the clean, renewable energy technologies like wind and solar that are affordable and abundant right now.
• Not only are PNG and Duke doubling down on antiquated technology, they want to raise rates on us to pay for it.
• These rate increases have the biggest impact on those who can least afford it, and line the pockets of polluting corporations that already rake in billions of dollars in profits.
• For the sake of our wallets, our health, our climate, and our communities, the Commission should reject these rate hikes.

Follow this link for tips on how to give testimony at NCUC public hearings: https://www.ncuc.net/Hearings/testimony.html

*If you're able, please wear yellow and green to represent the power of the sun and the Earth and make a strong visual statement against dirty fuel infrastructure.*