New Poll: N.C. voters oppose premature power-plant billing

North Carolina voters overwhelmingly oppose a proposal to let utility companies charge customers the hefty cost of new power plants before finishing them, a statewide poll found.

Senate Bill 261, filed last month, awaits action in the N.C. General Assembly.

Among other things, the legislation would let utilities bill their customers upfront for the cost of building expensive power plants before construction is completed – even if the project fails, as has happened in South Carolina and elsewhere.

More than three-fourths of North Carolina’s voters think that’s a bad idea regardless of their political affiliation, the poll found. Among Republican voters, fully 75% oppose the move, and 63% oppose it strongly. Meanwhile, 77% of unaffiliated voters oppose it (61% strongly), as do 79% of Democrats (63% strongly).

“North Carolina voters of every kind oppose putting consumers on the hook for risky spending on power plants that might never produce a single watt of energy,” said Dee Stewart of Strategic Partners Solutions, a Raleigh political consulting firm that conducted the poll. “You don’t buy a house until it’s built, and you don’t pay for a car before it’s available. Big, profitable power companies shouldn’t squeeze North Carolina families and small businesses for a service they haven’t yet delivered. Lawmakers would be wise to reject this ill-advised proposal.”

SPS conducted the random telephone survey of 650 likely North Carolina general election voters March 24-26 for the national nonprofit group Conservatives for a Clean Energy Future. The poll’s margin of error is 3.8% at the 95% confidence level.

Conservatives for a Clean Energy Future is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization that educates and advocates for policy solutions that move America toward energy independence and a clean energy future. CCEF works with policymakers and stakeholders across the nation to promote policies that secure affordable, reliable, and efficient clean energy here at home.

These are the poll question’s results with crosstabs: