The Town Council of Carrboro has filed a lawsuit against Duke Energy, alleging the utility misled the public about fossil fuel emissions and the timeline for renewable energy adoption. Supported and funded by NC WARN, the suit seeks damages for climate-related harms, pointing to Hurricane Helene’s impact as an example. The suit was filed in Orange County Superior Court in Hillsborough.

“Carrboro’s lawsuit is a sensational attempt to win a high-dollar judgment against Duke Energy. Nevertheless, the lawsuit ought to be laughed out of court,” said Jon Sanders, director of the Center for Food, Power, and Life at the John Locke Foundation. “The idea that, as stated in the lawsuit, ‘Duke’s Actions Are Substantially Responsible for Causing and Accelerating Climate Change’ is ridiculous and unprovable. The lawsuit even calls Hurricane Helene ‘a stark example of a climate-change fueled hurricane,’ which is antiscientific nonsense, strictly at odds with climate science.”

Similar climate lawsuits have been filed in towns like Honolulu, San Francisco, and Minneapolis. However, this is the first to be filed by a municipality against an energy utility.

“We have to speak truth to power as we continue to fight the existential threat that is climate change. The climate crisis continues to burden our community and cost residents their hard-earned tax dollars,” said Carrboro Mayor Barbara Foushee. “Duke Energy’s knowledge of the environmental injustice being caused by the use of fossil fuels has unfairly plagued our community for decades.”

Critics, including the Consumer Choice Center, argue the lawsuit is political theater, prioritizing politics over progress and undermining North Carolina’s clean energy progress, which includes nuclear power and reduced carbon emissions.

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