Court of Appeals Reviews Challenge to Duke Energy’s Controversial Solar Payment Rates Amid Legal Concerns

A three-judge Court of Appeals in North Carolina heard a challenge to Duke Energy’s reduced payments for home solar arrays. The rates were approved last year by the Utilities Commission and part of a deal between Duke, some of the state’s oldest rooftop installers, and multiple clean energy groups. The challengers argue that the rates were illegal as they were promulgated after internal Duke studies and stakeholder discussions, not the independent investigation required by law. They cite an article by John Szoka, one of the law’s authors, as evidence that the commission should conduct its own solar net metering cost-benefit analysis. The appellants also argue that they failed to consider all of the benefits of rooftop solar and by forcing solar owners to migrate to time-variable rates instead of allowing flat rates.