NASCAR and Greater Durham Chamber among winners of 10th Annual NC Clean Energy Champion Awards
RALEIGH – NASCAR, Walmart, Truliant Federal Credit Union, the Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce, and three state legislators received today the 2024 North Carolina Clean Energy Champion Awards.
Geoff Durham, President and CEO of the Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce
The 10th annual awards, presented by Conservatives for Clean Energy North Carolina and Chambers for Innovation and Clean Energy, honor policymakers, businesses, chambers of commerce, and other economic development organizations for showing leadership in advancing clean-energy solutions, innovation, opportunities, and growth across the state.
Business winners
NASCAR received the groups’ Clean Energy Champion Award for its commitment to clean energy business practices and its work to promote economic opportunity. NASCAR and ABB, a global leader in electrification and automation, announced this summer the ABB NASCAR Electrification Innovation Partnership and revealed a new electric vehicle prototype at the Chicago Street Race. Together they are working to advance NASCAR’s strategic sustainability ambitions across electrification.
While NASCAR is committed to the historic role of the combustion engine in racing, it is also committed to decarbonizing its operations and reducing its own carbon footprint to zero across its core operations by 2035 through electrification and innovative solutions. NASCAR has installed several EV chargers at its Concord and Charlotte facilities.
Walmart received a Clean Energy Champion Award for its commitment to clean energy business practices, its leadership in state policy and regulatory engagement, and its work to expand economic opportunity across North Carolina. Walmart, North Carolina’s largest private employer, engages regularly at the General Assembly and the N.C. Utilities Commission to improve consumer access to clean energy resources and affordable rates. This year, that included advocating for and helping to reach a settlement in state Carbon Plan proceedings with Duke Energy. The company also has committed to the development of almost 1 gigawatt of new U.S. clean energy projects.
Truliant received a Clean Energy Champion Award for its commitment to clean energy business practices and its work to boost economic opportunities across North Carolina. Last year the company completed a 742-panel solar installation on the roof of its new Hanes Mall Operations Center at the mall’s former three-story Macy’s store. Roughly the size of a football field, it’s the largest rooftop solar installation in Forsyth County.
Additional sustainability measures at Truliant’s operations center include a building management system designed to manage efficiencies; upgrades to LED lighting in interiors and parking lots; and high-efficiency heating and cooling.
Durham’s Chamber received a Clean Energy Champion Award for its excellence in clean energy policy and economic development leadership. In June, Gov. Roy Cooper, legislative leaders, and other dignitaries joined chamber staffers to announce the launching of IONNA, a joint venture of seven major global automakers to develop a network of electric vehicle charging stations, with its headquarters in Durham.
The network will support and be open to electric vehicles of all brands, with more than 30,000 charging stations. In addition to its corporate functions, IONNA’s new state-of-the-art facility will include a customer experience lab for research and development of the hardware software and hardware necessary to operate it.
Legislative recipients
Sen. Michael V. Lee, a Wilmington Republican, received the Clean Energy Leadership Award for helping to expand clean energy, economic development, and consumer access across North Carolina.
Sen. Lee was the lead sponsor and champion of this year’s Senate Bill 802 in the General Assembly. The “Commercial Property Assessed Capital Expenditure Act,” which Gov. Roy Cooper signed into law, created an option for local governments to advance building resiliency and utility bill savings by giving commercial property owners access to low-cost, long-term, non-public financing repaid by tax assessments on their property. Building improvements that will qualify include energy efficiency, water conservation, renewable energy, and measures that protect against storm and flood damage.
Rep. Jake Johnson, a Republican representing four western counties in North Carolina’s General Assembly, received the Clean Energy Leadership Rising Star Award for his work to expand clean energy opportunities, investments, and consumer access.
Among his other activities, Rep. Johnson traveled across the state to participate in an educational tour with fellow legislators, economic developers, and others of Dominion Energy’s two wind turbines 27 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach. When fully operational, the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project will include 176 wind turbines that can power up to 660,000 homes and support 1,100 jobs. Similar wind energy projects are planned out of sight off North Carolina’s coast.
Former State Rep. Jason Saine, a Lincolnton Republican who resigned in August to pursue other opportunities, received an Outstanding Clean Energy Champion Award for his clean energy leadership throughout his 13-year legislative career.
Rep. Saine consistently championed policies that advanced clean energy investments, business opportunities, market competition, and greater consumer access and choices. He met with countless clean energy business leaders and toured renewable energy projects, high-performance energy efficient buildings, and electric vehicle and EV charging manufacturers across the state.
Sponsor comments
“We’ll certainly miss Rep. Saine at the General Assembly, but many other conservative legislative leaders are stepping up to protect energy consumers and promote free-market competition,” said Carson Butts, State Director of CCENC. “Renewable energy isn’t the only solution, but it’s an increasingly important part of the answer to the public’s growing need for affordable, reliable, and abundant energy across North Carolina.”
The awards were presented during a packed luncheon Tuesday at City Club Raleigh.
“For years, North Carolina has been a leader in solar energy generation and clean energy jobs, driven by the strategic vision of business and legislative leaders,” said Ryan Evans, Executive Director of Chambers for Innovation and Clean Energy. “That leadership is now reflected in a surge of clean energy, electric vehicle, and battery manufacturing facilities across the state, with offshore wind energy on the horizon. We are proud to recognize this year’s Clean Energy Champions for advancing the clean energy economy and diversifying North Carolina’s energy landscape.”
Public support
Across all partisan and ideological lines, North Carolina’s voters strongly support more energy choices and more renewable energy, including offshore wind.
The 2024 North Carolina Energy Poll, conducted for CCENC and the national Clean Energy Buyers Association, found that among the state’s voters:
More than 77% want more consumer energy choices. This includes 79% of Republican voters, 77% of Unaffiliated voters, and 77% of Democratic voters.
More than 61% support building offshore wind turbines, up from 55% last year. Support rose to about 66% when told of the private investment wind energy would attract or that the turbines would be barely visible from the shore.
Overall, 74% think state law should encourage more renewable energy.
“As demand for electricity surges in North Carolina and across America, we need all the energy sources we can get,” Butts said. “Embracing clean energy is vital economically, good for consumers, and savvy politically – including for free-market conservatives.”
