Freshman lawmaker and environmental lobbyist tangle over energy bill

On Wednesday, the North Carolina League of Conservation Voters told a number of House Democrats that they'd hold them accountable for a recent vote. It didn't go over well for some.

North Carolina state Rep. Bryan Cohn, a Granville County Democrat, attends a legislative session on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025.

When lobbyist Dan Crawford made the rounds to House offices on Wednesday, it didn’t sit well with one freshman.

North Carolina lawmakers overwhelmingly supported a bill in 2021 that set a goal for the state to achieve a 70% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions from electric public utilities from 2005 levels by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

In response, the state Utilities Commission approved a number of actions to achieve the near-term goal, which Republicans and a number of Democrats fear could lead to rate increases.

Now, a new bill that could soon head to Stein would eliminate the 2030 target. A number of environmental groups oppose Senate Bill 266, citing concerns with how utilities recover construction costs. But 11 Democrats supported the bill on Tuesday, prompting Crawford to warn that the group would reflect that in its environmental voting scorecard.

In an internal message shared with his colleagues, Rep. Bryan Cohn, a Democrat representing Vance and Granville counties who supported SB266, said he believed Gov. Josh Stein was opposed to the bill and accused Crawford and the League of Conservation Voters of launching “a smear campaign” and engaging in “political thuggery.”