Utilities Watchdog Project

Current Campaigns

Fair And Affordable Energy

Check out our Win and Watch list on the new energy legislation, "Promote Renewable Energy/Baseload Generation.” NCPIRG defended the interests and pocketbooks of residents. We testified before five Senate and House Committees, advocated in stakeholder meetings, published fact sheets, and wrote editorials. Read more.

Energy efficiency should save customers money, and it should be the cleanest way to meet future demand. If every U.S. household replaced just one incandescent light bulb with a compact florescent light bulb (CFL), we would save enough energy to light 3 million homes, cut energy bills by $600 million, and prevent greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those from 800,000+ vehicles per year. Utility companies, however, are lobbying to make efficiency expensive. Read more.

Get North Carolina Online!

Media giants like Comcast and Verizon have been unwilling to provide Internet service to many areas of the state, leaving many consumers in a digital dark-age. Even in places where high-speed Internet is readily available, it's often unaffordable for low-income consumers. NCPIRG is actively working with mayors across the state to stand up to the telecom industry and secure fair, accessible service to all of North Carolina. Read More.

Overview

We require utilities—electricity, natural gas, telecommunication systems and water—to meet our basic needs. Without them, we could not refrigerate our food, heat our homes, access information, or keep clean. The Utilities Watchdog Project was created in response to utility providers’ aggressive pursuit of profits at the expense of the public’s interests in affordability, access and the environment.

Highly-paid lobbyists and attorneys for the utility providers navigate behind the scenes for special advantages. Electric utilities, for example, can force customers to finance billion dollar dirty energy plants that its shareholders consider too risky to finance.

Meanwhile, natural gas providers seek new ways to raise rates without improving their service— for example, by charging residents who use less natural gas more per-therm than other residents.

Lastly, telecommunication companies are lobbying to prevent towns from providing low-cost internet access to communities where private companies refuse to serve.

To defend the public’s interest, NCPIRG's Utilities Watchdog Project organizes media coverage, grassroots campaigns, and legislative support for efficient, fair, and smart public utility policies. We participate in meetings with utility providers and the Utilities Commissioners, enlist the help of powerful stakeholders like the Attorney General and Public Staff, and collaborate with allies in consumer rights and environmental groups.

(1)The General Assembly created the Utilities Commission to limit utilities’ abilities to exploit customers. States where utilities are unregulated have been subject to extreme price hikes and energy crises. According to some research, residents in those states pay almost double what we pay.

NCPIRG is standing up to natural gas and electric companies to protect consumers from unfair rates and push for policy that will increase our efficiency and use of safe, clean energy.