Roy Cooper focuses on energy affordability in Charlotte campaign stop

CHARLOTTE — With Duke Energy proposing rate hikes to go into effect Monday, lowering energy costs was a big focus of former Governor Roy Cooper’s campaign stop in Charlotte.

“At home, our Duke Energy bill has increased by $60,” Stephanie Collins-Frempong said to a chorus of boos. “$60, you all.”

Duke Energy was booed out of the building ahead of Governor Roy Cooper’s campaign stop in Charlotte on the “Make Stuff Cost Less” tour.

Cooper called out Whatley for lobbying for Duke Energy and not speaking out against rate hikes that go into effect Monday.

Last week, State Senator Caleb Theodros and State Senator Natalie Murdock co-authored a letter calling into question Whatley’s ties to Duke Energy.

>>> CLICK HERE TO READ FULL LETTER

“Both as attorney general and governor, I continued to fight rate increases year after year, and as a US Senator I am going to do what I can to lower the costs of utilities for everyday families,” Cooper said.

One of Cooper’s proposals targets data centers. He says they should be paying for their own power and they should be encouraged to build their own energy sources.

“We need people who will fight the utility rates,” Cooper said.

A spokesperson for Republican Michael Whatley accused Cooper’s of driving up energy costs while he was governor.

“Roy Cooper’s actual record as Governor was pushing the Green New Deal and government subsidized solar,” spokesperson DJ Griffin said in part. “Charlotte should judge Roy Cooper by his actions, not his misleading rhetoric.”

Cooper has been crisscrossing the state talking about bringing down costs. The John Locke Foundation says the devil is in the details.

“If you’re making the government more involved in the economy, our view is that that is going to aggravate those problems,” Jeff Moore of the John Locke Foundation said. “It’s not going to make stuff cost less; it’s going to make stuff more expensive.”

Duke Energy’s proposed June 1 rate hike will cost Duke Energy customers $6 to $8 more a month.

It covers fuel costs from September to February. State law allows Duke Energy to pass all of the costs spent on fuels like coal and natural gas onto customers.

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