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The United States Department of Energy made an announcement last week that they will invest some $175 million on upgrading coal-fired power plants across the nation. This includes a major facility in North Carolina as part of an overall effort to strengthen the power grid and keep electricity affordable and reliable for citizens across the United States. The funding will go towards six projects aimed at modernizing coal plants, improving efficiencies, and extending the operating life of these plants across the country. One of the major projects taking place here in North Carolina is at Duke Energy's Bellows Creek Steam Station, which is in Stokes County, North Carolina. The United States Department of Energy announced that the investment is part of a much larger $525 million initiative that is focused on reinforcing the coal fleet nationwide through efficiency upgrades.
The Department of Energy and their officials say that modernizing existing coal plants is one of the most effective ways to maintain reliable power, especially in more rural communities. The Bellows Creek steam station project is focused on upgrading two coal-fired units at the plant. It is expected that these improvements will increase the coal plant's availability. and its generation capacity. as well as helping support reliable energy throughout the region.
Federal officials say that electricity demand is continuing to increase across the nation. No real surprise there. And making efficient energy sources is critical for that reliability. Through the upgraded plants and infrastructure, officials believe that these projects can prevent disruptions as well as supporting long-term power stability. The U.S.
Secretary of Energy and Chris Wright said that the funding is meant for dependable power and protecting jobs in the coal industry, saying in a statement, for years, previous administrations targeted America's coal industry and the workers who power our country, forcing the premature closure of reliable plants and driving up electricity costs. These investments will keep America's coal plants operating, keep costs low for Americans, and ensure that we have reliable power needed to keep the lights on. Duke Energy spokesperson Riley Cook expressed that this operation is about maintaining operational reliability, which helps prove which proves values in these various systems like the one that we're talking about this morning in Stokes County, saying, We appreciate the White House's grant funding. Supporters of the investment say that improving existing coal plants can preserve energy jobs all at the same time while keeping energy costs stable for American families and small businesses, as energy officials also state that the upgrades will improve efficiency rates and help reduce energy maintenance over time. In North Carolina, the Bellows Creek steam station has been a major part of the region's energy foundation, with these improvements intended to strengthen reliability and ensure that coal plants can continue to meet demands as populations continue to grow across North Carolina.
Additional projects incorporated into this federal funding will include upgrades at coal facilities in West Virginia, Ohio, and Kentucky. Those upgrades will focus on improving plant performance, extending equipment life, and increasing power capacity. This announcement comes as President Donald Trump hosted a Champion of Coal event at the White House. House where officials, industry professionals, and coal miners gathered to support the industry. During the event, the President signed an executive order for federal agencies to prioritize coal power purchases and maintain the role of coal in energy production.
U. S. Senator Ted Budd, one of our two senators representing us here in North Carolina, attended the event and expressed his view on the importance of coal plants across the country, taking it to social media, the X platform, saying, attending the Champion of Coal event where the President announced new resources and efforts to extend the life of coal plants in North Carolina and across the country. It reminded me and Amy Kate's granddad, a hardworking coal miner in West Virginia, the importance of delivering affordable, reliable energy to our communities. With the coal plant projects moving forward, funding is another step in the government's effort to maintain reliable energy and strengthen that infrastructure nationwide.
You can read some additional details on that story this morning over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com. The headline, U.S. Department of Energy plans $175 million for coal plant upgrades, including North Carolina site. In some other statewide news this morning, the North Carolina State Board of Elections is investigating numerous reports of alleged misconduct of people running sham voter registration drives in seven counties, including impersonating state or county election officials. In recent months, according to the state board, reports have come in from Brunswick, Buncombe, Haywood, Nash, Scotland, Wake, as well as other counties across North Carolina.
But according to Jason Tyson, who is a spokesperson for the state board, these type of complaints have been a problem over the last several years. He told Carolina Journal, over the past 10 years, we have received thousands of these types of complaints, and lately that number has gone up because we're in an election cycle. We're getting ready to have a primary, and in every year of an election cycle, it tends to bring different types of these people looking to register folks. We've seen an increase in these counties, and I think there have been, over the last year, 300 of these types of reports in about 30 counties.
Some of the complaints include individuals working on voter registration drives providing misinformation to voters, telling that they must, in fact, re-register to vote to be eligible in future elections regardless of their circumstances, which is not the case here across North Carolina. Unless you have moved to a new county, voters who are already registered are not required to re-register.
However, voters who move to a new address in the same county or wish to change their name or party affiliation should submit a new voter registration application to update their voter record. A lot of that work can also be done through the online MyDMV portal where you would go to renew your registration or renew your driver's license.
Some of the other reports include individuals going door-to-door, falsely identifying themselves as county or state election workers, with state officials noting that government election workers do not go and will not go door-to-door for any reason.
So if somebody comes to your front step claiming to be a state or local election official, they are not. And voter registration applications have been turned in to many county board of elections, missing required voter information or including largely inaccurate information, such as the wrong date of birth or a voter identification number from what's on file in the state's election system. With state officials noting that it is a felony. rather to falsify a voter registration form. State Board of State Board of Elections Executive Director Sam Hayes said in a press release, the State Board will investigate all credible allegations of voter registration fraud by individuals or organizations when workers involved in these voter drives falsely or alter Alter information on registration forms.
It can cause problems for innocent voters at the polls. This is unacceptable and hurts voter confidence. Jason Tyson says that they have seen all kinds of names, including the names of rappers, Mickey Mouses, Mickey Mouse, other nicknames and aliases on some voter registration forms. He also noted that it's not any one partisan, one political party trying to register people. This is just across the board.
The state has some great tips for individuals. If you come into contact with somebody, maybe you're at a local festival, a local farmer's market, and individuals are walking around with voter registration information. Make sure you know everything you'd need to know before you are chatting with them. We've got a link to all of the resources, including the voter search tool, how you can register or update your registration. All of that information available this morning over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com.
The story's headline: State Election Board Probes Fake Officials, Fraud in Voter Drives. You're still grooving, still connecting, still loving, still turning up, still thriving. You still got it, but your immune system, it weakens as you age. That's where vaccines come in. They help train and strengthen your immune response to fight off respiratory illnesses like flu, pneumococcal pneumonia, RSV, or COVID-19.
Ask your doctor or pharmacist which vaccines you need. Book in minutes at vaxassist.com. Sponsored by Pfizer. It's 521. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, Charlotte's FM News Talk 107.9 FM, WBT, an interesting hearing taking place in Raleigh yesterday, or last week, I should say, as the North Carolina House Committee question.
Buncombe County officials over diversity, equity, and inclusion. Those Buncombe County officials and state lawmakers went back and forth back in Raleigh on February the 11th over accusations of unfair diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives taking place within the county, which of course hosts the city of Asheville. Officials led by County Commission Chair Amanda Edwards and County Attorney Kurt Euler sought to, quote, correct the record on testimony given to the committee back on January the 7th by Asheville lawyer and former Republican primary legislative candidate Ruth Smith. Smith's testimony focused on Bunkham County's racial equity action plan known as REAP, which she claimed unfairly allocated resources based on race when it was meant to help rule residents across Bunkham County. Smith also testified that Buncombe County engaged in discrimination by proxy through programs like the Isaac Coleman Grant Program and through small business relief grants.
But in the testimony to the North Carolina Select Committee on Government Efficiency, Edwards and Euler disputed those claims, with the chair of the county commission saying, There have been no instances where race-based criteria or protected characteristics have been used in any work, including hiring contractors or allocating revenue. Edwards said that the racial equity action plan was designed to increase the county's understanding of underserved populations, but it did not determine county policy. She said that the small business relief was targeted at businesses with less than 25 employees, an often unreached group, and was not limited by race or gender, although outreach may have focused. On what is called BIPOC, black indigenous people of color, or women-oriented businesses to ensure that they were aware of the opportunities. Another point of contention during the hearing was the county's Community Reparations Commission or CRC.
In her prior testimony from January, Smith claimed that the county was trying to evade the 14th Amendment and implement unconstitutional policies on racial reparations. Ultimately, the CRC developed and released 39 policy recommendations in a 2025 report, including the establishment of an economic development center for African Americans in Asheville, as well as creating a black wealth building fund, providing grants to black-owned businesses and legacy neighborhoods, as well as even making direct cash payments to individuals harmed by, quote, racism. The issue has drawn scrutiny from the Trump administration. In September, Harmeet Dillon, who is the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division at the federal United States Department of Justice, sent a letter to the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners warning them about some of the recommendations coming out of this Community Reparations Commission. Dylan writing in the letter in part: My office will be closely monitoring your actions.
To the extent these recommendations are formally adopted, you are now on notice that my office stands ready to investigate and enforce violations of federal civil right laws to the fullest extent possible. For their parts, the two officials from Buncombe County in front of the committee last week, both Edwards and Euler, said during the hearing that no county staff or legal counsel ever advocated for circumventing federal or state laws. Euler explained that the CRC was formed after George Floyd's death to gather information and examine historical discrimination practices like redlining and urban renewal, not promised payments for past slavery. The CRC's findings were recommendations, and the county has reportedly taken no action on them, nor does it attend to, they said. Republican members of the committee pushed back against the narrative presented by the two county officials.
Representative Brian Echeveria, who is the Republican from Cabarris County, asked in what ways Buncom County has been partial in the past that it needed to correct these past injustices, with the two officials saying that there were no faults to confess on behalf of the Buncom County government. With the attorney saying, I don't think there was an overt problem with Buncombe County. I think what we're trying to do is make sure that we are connecting with people we don't normally connect with. And I don't think that was necessarily based on race or protected classes. Representative Echeveria countered that, saying the truth is that the black community in Buncombe County suffers because of the policies of Democrats for decades, and that is a fact.
This is one of many reports that we have had over the last six or eight months as it relates to Buncombe County, as I mentioned. During the article, there, there was some discussion back earlier last year from the federal Department of Justice Harmet Dillon and others questioning some of these policies out of Buncombe County.
Some discussions of these what many federal officials would describe as very discriminatory policies coming out of officials within Buncombe County and the city of Asheville. This is not the first time that these policies have been brought to national attention or gained some pretty big discussions across the nation. You can find some additional coverage of this story over on our website this morning, CarolinaJournal.com. The headline, North Carolina House Committee questions Buncombe County over DEI. And I'm reminded of a story we brought to you back in August of last year where Asheville, the city of Asheville, which is inside Buncombe County, agreed to eliminate race-based commitments.
Criteria. This was after some threats of legal action against the city of Asheville, and they amended their membership and appointment criteria for their Human Relations Commission of Asheville, which was known as the HRC. Back the city also filed a joint motion in federal court back in August with plaintiffs who challenged some of the membership rules. The motion asked the judge to enter an order ending the dispute due to the fact that its original bylaws required specific quotas to be fulfilled by individuals representing certain demographic backgrounds, including African-American, Latinx residents, LGBTQ individuals, youth residents from each city district, and people with disabilities. This was laid out very clearly in the membership criteria for this Human Relations Committee of Asheville back in 2022, facing difficulties filling vacancies.
The city council. Reduced the commission from 15 members to nine with some of those quotas removed.
However, local residents did take the city to court and try and get some of these what they described as ridiculous quotas thrown out in an attempt to not deal with additional legal action. The attorney for the city of Asheville and the members of the entirely Democratic-controlled Asheville City Council argued over this during their meeting back in August, specifically August the 26th of 2025. Regardless of the bickering and the back and forth, the majority on that board did rule to end some of those described as discriminatory quotas for this commission. This has been a long-standing problem for Asheville and Bunkham County. We've got details on both of those stories this morning on our website, CarolinaJournal.com.
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Ask your doctor or pharmacist which vaccines you need. Book in minutes at vaxassist.com. Sponsored by Pfizer. Uh It's 5:37. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, Charlotte's FM News Talk 107.9 FM.
WBT, I'm Nick Craig. Good Tuesday morning to you. Back in 2024, we covered a pretty interesting story from a small town just outside of Chapel Hill. It's called Carborough, and they filed legal action against the state's largest electrical producer and provider, that, of course, being Duke Energy. We've been tracking this story now for well over a year on the Carolina Journal News Hour.
We've got a pretty significant update this morning to walk us through some of those details. Mitch Kokai with the John Locke Foundation joins us on the Carolina Journal News Hour. Mitch, when this lawsuit was originally filed, they were looking for Duke Energy to reimburse the town for climate change-related expenses. It's kind of a weird lawsuit when it was filed, and it continues to run through the courts. What are you learning this morning?
Well, the latest is that the business court judge who was assigned to hear this case has dismissed it. He basically said that Carborough doesn't have a case, and so barring an appeal, this legislation or this litigation will be over. What happened, as you suggested, is that Carborough sued Duke Energy, basically saying that the town has been forced to deal with expenses that are caused by years of Duke Energy lying about climate change and about the impact of burning fossil fuels. And as Mark Davis from the North Carolina Business Court, the judge who was overseeing this case, went through these claims, he basically had some interesting points to make. The first of one was Duke Energy challenged Carborough's standing to even file suit.
And Judge Davis said, no, Carborough can file suit. They have standing. He also dealt with this issue of whether federal law preempts. Carborough's suit against Duke Energy, and he said, Well, maybe that's possible, but I don't even have to get to that because the reason that the case is being thrown out is that it deals with what's called a non-justiciable issue. And that's a fancy way of saying this is the type of thing a court can't deal with.
Judge Davis, over the course of his 32-page order, goes into quite a bit of detail about how climate change cannot be tied to any one entity or even one country. This is something that deals with decisions made by billions of people around the world. And there is no way that a jury of 12 people in Orange County or a judge for that matter could look at these things and reasonably say that what Duke Energy did would have some impact on climate change in a way that Carborough could quantify as having being an expense that Duke Energy would then have to compensate the town for.
So basically, Judge Davis said, yes, Carborough can file this suit, but nothing about this suit is something that a court could be able to handle. This is the type of thing that is what's sometimes called the political question or the political questions doctrine. In that, these are the types of things that other branches of government would have to deal with, not the courts. Mitch, you mentioned at the open that this was being dealt with in the North Carolina Business Court. You join me multiple times a week.
We talk about a variety of different legal challenges. Most of the time, we're not talking about the North Carolina Business Court. Can you give our audience a quick explanation of what makes that court different from some of the other legal challenges that we cover here? Yes, and I'll also talk about why this case ended up in business court because it started being filed in Orange County Superior Court, which is the normal trial court level for almost anything that's filed in state courts. Business court is different in that it is designed to deal with cases that deal with, as you might expect, business, complex, complicated cases that have to do with business practices.
But also, business court was set up and has been used over the years in North Carolina as a way for businesses to get a little bit more certainty about their operations in North Carolina. When business court was set up, the people who thought it was a good idea to set it up said, Look, we want North Carolina to be friendly to business and we want businesses to understand the rules of the road in terms of their legal landscape. And so if we assign Most cases that deal with businesses to business court, there will be a list of precedents, the way things operate in business-related lawsuits that will come to be the standard that businesses will know of, and that will be a benefit to our state's economy. And so, what happened was this case was originally filed in Orange County Superior Court. I assume that the folks in Carrboro were hoping that a local Orange County judge would deal with the case and might give them a sympathetic ear because that Orange County judge might be of the same political persuasion or might even be someone who lives in Carrboro and says, Oh, are my bills to the Carrboro town government higher because of this climate change issue?
And they might give the town a little bit more sympathetic ear. But not long after the case was filed, Duke Energy asked for it to be declared a business court case, and the state court. Court system led by Chief Justice Newby complied and said, Yes, this is a business court case. And that's why it went forward in front of Judge Davis outside of what would normally happen with most lawsuits where they're filed in a particular court. And whoever is the Superior Court judge operating in that county at the time is the one who hears it.
Great explanation on that, Mitch. You also mentioned at the beginning this case, for all intents and purposes, is dead right now. The judge said, you don't really can't rule on any of this stuff, so we're not going to. But you did mention Carborough could appeal. Does the appeal process work in the business court similar to what we see in the regular appellate court system?
How does that process play out? It's similar in the sense that you do file an appeal, but because it's been a business court case, and this I don't know if it happens in every business court case, but I think it happens in at least most of them. The appeal doesn't go first to the North Carolina Court of Appeals and then, depending on what happens there, to the North Carolina Supreme Court. In most, if not all, business court cases, the appeal goes directly to the state Supreme Court. That's another advantage of having this business court set up in terms of the people who would like to see litigation wrapped up as soon as possible is that you cut out the middleman, so to speak.
And if someone doesn't like what the business court just says, Judge says it goes to the North Carolina Supreme Court, and the Supreme Court then gets a final ruling, presumably much more quickly than you might see with other cases that have to go through the intermediate step of the Court of Appeals. Mitch, you walked us through the legal side of this, and we'll, of course, see if Carborough decides that they want to appeal this to the state's highest court, which probably from a purely political standpoint is not a great idea. But let me ask you about the political side of this. Duke Energy, like many other large electrical companies across the United States, this would be a growing concern for them if a court system ruled that, hey, yes, a small municipality, which Carborough by definition would be considered a pretty small municipality. Yes, they can sue you for climate change as a power electrical company.
I mean, that could set a very dangerous precedent. Obviously, it would be just here in North Carolina, but you could see similar cases being tried all across the nation. I would imagine that would create some level of disaster for these electrical companies. Yeah, it certainly would have set a difficult precedent for them. As you said, anything that happens with this case would only affect the North Carolina courts, but it would almost be certain that if this case had moved forward, if a judge had said, yes, these are legitimate ideas, and I do think a court can deal with them, that you would see probably more suits from likely left-of-center local governments in North Carolina.
And then. Communities in other states would probably get the same idea and use Carborough's case as not a precedent, but an example, and try to tell their court systems: look, this town in North Carolina was able to get success in its suit against Duke Energy. We think you ought to use that as an example as we try to do the same thing either against Duke Energy or another utility provider in another state. And if this litigation were to move forward beyond Duke Energy, the case for Duke Energy and this one. Complaint from Carborough was going to be potentially damaging in and of itself.
But if you got multiple communities filing suit and then multiple suits against multiple utility companies, that could be a very dangerous game for the utility companies and for ratepayers and for the future of providing energy in North Carolina and the U.S. Yeah, I mean, obviously, we're talking about a small town. You can imagine a Raleigh, a Charlotte, a Neville, even a smaller city like Greensboro or Wilmington, which are much larger municipalities than Carrboro. Mitch, you almost see the situation where Duke Energy says, hey, find somebody else to provide your electricity here across the state. We're not interested anymore.
Folks can read, going all the way back to 2024. We have some original comments as this story has progressed over the last year or so. We appreciate the update this morning. Mitch Cokei from the John Locke Foundation joins us on the Carolina Journal News Hour. You're still grooving, still connecting, still loving, still turning up, still thriving.
You still got it. But your immune system, it weakens as you age. That's where vaccines come in. They help train and strengthen your immune response to fight off respiratory illnesses like flu, pneumococcal pneumonia, RSV, or COVID-19. Ask your doctor or pharmacist which vaccines you need.
Book in minutes at vaxassist.com. Sponsored by Pfizer. The John Locke Foundation's Carolina Liberty Conference is coming up in just a couple of weeks. It brings together policymakers, scholars, community leaders, and citizens from across the state of North Carolina to explore the challenges and opportunities of advancing freedom in today's political and cultural climate. The 2026 Carolina Liberty Conference is coming to Raleigh next weekend, February the 27th through 28th at the State View Hotel.
This year, we will be celebrating the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution with great guest speakers like Lord Daniel Hannon, Chief Justice Paul Newby, State Auditor Dave Bollock, and more. Tickets are selling out very quickly. Register for the 2026 Carolina Liberty Conference today by visiting johnlock.org. That's johnloc.org, j-o-h-n-l-o-c-k-e dot org. It's 5:53.
Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, Charlotte's FM News Talk 107.9. WBT, some pretty interesting news coming out of the federal government this morning. The U.S. Department of Energy made an announcement recently that they will invest $175 million into upgrading coal-fired power plants across the nation. This does include a major facility across the Tarheel State as part of an overall effort to strengthen the power grid and keep electricity affordable and reliable.
That funding will go towards six different projects that are all aimed at modernizing coal plants, improving efficiencies, and extending the operating life of those facilities. One of the six projects is at Duke Energy's Bellows Creek steam station, which is in Stokes County. The United States Department of Energy announced that the investment is part of a much larger $525 million initiative that is focused on reinforcing the coal fleet across the nation, all of that done through effective upgrades. Department of Energy officials say that the modernization existing efforts at these coal plants is one of the most efficient ways to maintain reliable power, especially for rural communities across the United States. The plant that we're talking about in Stokes County this morning is focused on upgrading two coal-fired units at the plant.
These improvements are expected to increase the coal plant's availability as well as its generation capacity, all of that to help support reliable energy throughout the region. Federal officials say that electricity demand is continuing to increase nationwide, and making efficient energy sources is critical. Throughout upgrading these plants and infrastructure, officials believe that these projects can prevent long-term disruptions and support long-term power stability. U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said that the funding is meant for dependable power and protecting jobs in the coal field, saying in a statement, for years, previous administrations have targeted America's coal industry and the workers who power our country, forcing premature closures of reliable plants and driving up electricity costs.
These investments will keep America's coal plants operating, keep costs low for Americans, and ensure that we have reliable power needed to keep the lights on. A spokesperson for Duke Energy expressed that this operation is about maintaining operational reliability, which proves its value with energy systems across the United States, with supporters of the investment saying that improving existing coal plants can preserve energy jobs, all while keeping energy prices stable and affordable for American families and small businesses. Energy officials also stated that the upgrades will improve efficiency rates and help reduce energy maintenance over time. In North Carolina, this facility over in Stokes County has been a major part of the region's electrical foundation, with these improvements intended to strengthen the reliability and ensure that the coal plant continues to meet demands as populations continue to boom across the state of North Carolina. We've got some additional coverage this morning on this story out from the United States Department of Energy and its impacts in North Carolina.
Look for the story's headline, U.S. Department of Energy plans $175 million for coal plant upgrades, including North Carolina site. That's going to do it for a Tuesday edition of the Carolina Journal News Hour. WBT News is next. Followed by Good Morning, BT.
We're back with you tomorrow morning, 5 to 6, right here on Charlotte's FM News Talk, 107.9, WBT. You're still grooving, still connecting, still loving, still turning up, still thriving. You still got it, but your immune system, it weakens as you age. That's where vaccines come in. They help train and strengthen your immune response to fight off respiratory illnesses like flu, pneumococcal pneumonia, RSV, or COVID-19.
Ask your doctor or pharmacist which vaccines you need. Book in minutes at vaxassist.com. Sponsored by Pfizer. Does your dessert game need a makeover? Scoop it or swirl it.
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