Environment

Amid growing pushback over data centers and rising utility bills, consumer advocates are urging state regulators to create new rates for large electricity users.

This winter, many households were hit with high heating bills after consecutive winter storms. With more than 135,000 residents still over a month behind on payments, there may be some minor relief on their next gas bill.

N.C. House Republicans and a few Democrats advanced a bill Wednesday that would set some guardrails on data center development, while putting restrictions on Duke Energy’s coal plant retirement. Mecklenburg County’s newly unaffiliated representatives Nasif Majeed and Carla Cunningham also voted in favor of the bill.

At a committee meeting Monday afternoon, Deputy City Manager Alyson Craig clarified that a proposed 150-day moratorium would stop new data center applications from being submitted, but would not pause every project already lined up.

State regulators are hosting the final public hearing on Duke Energy Carolinas’ proposed rate hikes Wednesday evening in Durham. The utility says it needs higher returns to attract future investment and reduce financial risk. Not everyone agrees.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recently predicted a below-average season with 8-14 named storms. Of those, NOAA forecasts that only 3-6 will become hurricanes.

Dana Lewis received a plastic card, an artifact number and a promise: Come back in 50 years to reclaim what you sealed inside this time capsule.

Attendees packed the main chamber of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center. Most spoke out against new data center development in the city.

Charlotte City Council is holding a public hearing Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. in Charlotte’s Government Center to consider a 150-day data center moratorium. But what is a moratorium and how could it maximize the benefits of new development while minimizing the risks?

To eat meat or not to eat meat is a perennial question among the climate-conscious. The systems that allow us to eat what we eat, including beef and other meats, often contribute to global warming before and after it arrives on our plate.