(The Center Square) – Six months in, the North Carolina Energy Policy Task Force is thinking about tariffs among its identification of nine recommendations.
Included is large-load tariffs, says the administration of first-term Democratic Gov. Josh Stein, so that large-load customers like data centers are ensured of shouldering the majority of the costs associated with new large-load customers. Secretary Reid Wilson, of the state Department of Environmental Quality, said energy demand is rising rapidly.
To wit, Duke Energy – supplier of more than 3.6 million retail customers statewide – expects a demand increase of 16% through 2040. For the 20 years of 2005 to 2025, the increase was just 7%. Residential rates have gone up nearly 30% since 2017, and a new rate hike is pending.
“Through regular meetings, we have explored the avenues taken by other states, and heard from experts on what they would do again and what they would avoid,” said state Rep. Kyle Hall, R-Stokes. “While we have reached a consensus, we did not do so unanimously. There are many opinions on a topic such as this, and such an outcome shouldn’t come as a surprise. There are many possibilities, and we will continue to do right by the people of North Carolina and their families as we continue our work. This report is just the beginning.”
Of all states with data centers, North Carolina’s 94 is fewer only than Virginia (570), Texas (397), California (288), Illinois (210), Georgia (207), Ohio (195), Arizona (161), New York (134), Oregon (123), Washington (108) and Florida (107), according to DataCenterMap.com.
Multiple recommendations of the 30 energy experts and lawmakers deal with data centers. The list begins with, “Develop options for large-load tariffs.” This would be specialized standard set of terms and rules for large-load customers like data centers, with the intent to be sure costs are paid by that customer.
They include exploration of energy and water usage; assessment of “the dollar and strategic value of existing sales and use tax exemptions” for the data centers; exploration of reforms to large-load and generation interconnection processes; load flexibility; and options for “bring your own capacity” and alternative capacity.
Other thoughts include grid-enhancing technology; residential and small business incentives for energy efficiency improvement; and exploring a third-party load-forecasting process.
Stein said families and businesses should be able “to count on dependable, sustainable and affordable power.” The task force is not scheduled for another report until February 2027.
