House panels approve bill preventing local governments from limiting energy options
A pair of House committees on Tuesday voted in favor of a bill that would prevent local governments from banning utility hookups to a home based on the energy source.
“This doesn’t decide what the policy is. This bill decides who decides the policy and that is at the state level, not from the local,” Rep. Dean Arp, a Union County Republican and one of House Bill 130’s primary sponsors, told the House Energy and Public Utilities Committee on Tuesday.
Both the Energy and House Rules committees voted in favor of the bill Tuesday, sending it to a full vote of the House. At least 20 states have passed similar legislation, which are meant to prevent other cities from passing ordinances like the one Berkeley, California, approved banning natural gas connections in an effort to fight climate change.
Home builders and people renovating their homes would, in other words, be able to choose whatever energy source they prefer for their heating and appliances.
If the House votes in favor of the legislation, it would still need to move through the Senate before heading to Gov. Roy Cooper.
The General Assembly passed a similar bill two years ago only to see it vetoed by Cooper. In his veto message, Cooper wrote that the legislation would take power away from local governments and could hamper efforts to move away from fossil fuel energy sources.
Dynamics are different in the General Assembly now, though, with Republicans holding a veto-proof majority in the Senate and only a seat away from one in the House.
Rep. Michael Wray, a Northampton County Democrat, is among House Bill 130’s sponsors. Should Wray cross party lines, the General Assembly would be able to override a Cooper veto.
Rep. Pricey Harrison, a Greensboro Democrat, argued Tuesday that House Bill 130 usurps local government authority. Harrison also said the legislation has been “floated” in other states by the American Gas Association.
“I think this is bad policy. I think we ought to defer to local governments on how they want to handle these situations,” Harrison told the Energy committee.
Rep. Carla Cunningham, a Charlotte Democrat, said she understands that the state needs to move away from powering homes and appliances with climate-affecting fossil fuels. But, Cunningham said, an affordable housing shortage that seems to touch every corner of the state complicates that.
If regulations force homeowners to buy appliances they can’t afford, she said, “I think we need to rethink it, that it is left up to the discretion of the homeowner who is making those appliance purchases and not up to a county and not up to a state.”
Business groups like the N.C. Retail Merchants Association, N.C. Chamber and N.C. Home Builders Association all spoke in favor of the bill.
Peter Daniel, director of government affairs for the N.C. Chamber, said the business advocacy group supports an “all-of-the-above” energy policy. Daniel also addressed the fact that the legislation has momentum even though no North Carolina local governments have sought legislation banning hookups based on the energy source.
“We believe this is a proactive step to protect job creators from harmful and costly energy choice mandates,” Daniel said.
This story was produced with financial support from 1Earth Fund, in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners, as part of an independent journalism fellowship program. The N&O maintains full editorial control of the work.
