North Carolina Town Files Lawsuit Against Duke Energy Over Climate Crisis

A town in North Carolina sued utility firm Duke Energy on Wednesday, accusing the company of deceiving its customers and the broader public about the harms of climate change.

The town of Carrboro, about 30 miles from the state capital of Raleigh, said it is “on the hook” for millions of dollars in road repairs, rising energy bills and other infrastructure costs to mitigate the ill effects of climate change.

It blamed Duke Energy for its alleged campaign to delay the transition to renewable energy.

“The climate crisis continues to burden our community and cost residents their hard-earned tax dollars,” Barbara Foushee, the mayor of Carrboro, said.

The lawsuit, filed in the Orange County Superior Court, said despite being aware of the risks from fossil fuels for more than 50 years, Duke Energy’s top executives increased reliance on coal and gas for electricity.

“We are in the process of reviewing the complaint. Duke Energy is committed to its customers and communities and will continue working with policymakers and regulators to deliver reliable and increasingly clean energy while keeping rates as low as possible,” Duke Energy said in a statement.

The company’s electric utilities serve more than 8 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky.

Duke Energy plans to add 30,000 megawatts of renewable energy capacity by 2035, and shift some of its coal-based energy production to natural gas, according to the company’s website.

(Reporting by Bose and Srivastava in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and Alan Barona)