Green Energy
Our communities deserve clean, sustainable, homegrown energy. We believe North Carolina can lead the South into a 21st-century energy economy that’s built to last.
MountainTrue is dedicated to helping North Carolina communities transition to renewable energy. We work with local community members, policymakers and utilities to bring our region sustainable solutions for our ever-growing energy needs.
Become a Member of the Recycling Team in Henderson County
This task force promotes city, county, and regional recycling programs (including curb-side pick-up) and advocates to improve Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle programs. The Recycling Team educates the public and policymakers about best practices by speaking at county commission meetings, writing letters to the editor, holding public forums, contacting schools and businesses, and organizing eco-tours. For more information or to become a committee member, email Katie Breckheimer at breckheimerkatie@gmail.com.
Energy and Sustainability News
Celebrate 50 Years of Earth Day with MountainTrue
As social creatures, we need to maintain our connections and find new ways to lean on each other during hard times. As creatures of nature, we need to connect with our forests, our rivers and the plants and animals we share this planet with. Today more than ever, we appreciate how important clean water and healthy forests are to our mountain communities.
Duke Energy Rate Increase Hearing Comes to Asheville Feb. 20
“It is unconscionable for a company making this level of profit to call on customers – many of whom are on low or fixed incomes – to foot the bill for Duke’s coal ash mismanagement and continued reliance on fossil fuels,” says Eliza Stokes, an organizer for MountainTrue and a customer of Duke Energy Progress.
Tell the NC Utilities Commission: Enough is Enough. No More Duke Rate Hikes For Dirty Energy.
Duke Energy is trying to raise our electric bills to pay for dirty energy. Again. The company’s latest rate hike proposal would increase residential rates by 6.7% – or about $97 more per year for the average electricity user.
It’s time for the North Carolina Utilities Commission to put an end to this behavior. Take action here to tell the NC Utilities Commission: No more Duke rate hikes for dirty energy.
Historic Settlement Results In Largest Coal Ash Cleanup In America
On January 2, MountainTrue, other community partners and our legal counsel the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) announced a historic settlement with Duke Energy and the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality. The agreement mandates that 80 million tons of coal ash will be excavated from six Duke Energy coal ash sites: Allen, Belews Creek, Cliffside, Marshall, Mayo, and Roxboro. Prior settlements and court orders require cleanups and excavation of coal ash at the eight other Duke Energy sites in North Carolina for the excavation of 46 million tons of coal ash. This agreement now puts in place a comprehensive cleanup plan for all coal ash lagoons at all 14 Duke Energy sites in North Carolina under which 126 million tons of ash has been or will be excavated across the state and will result in the largest coal ash cleanup in America to date.