'At the heart of the lawsuit is deception': Inside Carrboro's case for reparations from Duke Energy

Carrboro's lawsuit filed in early December against Duke Energy Corporation is the first case challenging an electric utility about climate deception practices. 

One part of the complaint alleges that Duke Energy Corporation participated in “greenwashing,” a deception strategy in which corporations claim they are doing more to curb climate change and increase sustainable practices than they actually are. The Town claims Duke Energy Corporation’s participation in greenwashing has misled the public into conducting business with the corporation under the impression they were actively trying to help the environment.

“At the heart of the lawsuit is deception,” Carrboro Mayor Barbara Foushee said. “It’s deception, it’s damages — seeking damages specifically — and also preventing future harm.”

In the lawsuit, Carrboro claims high-ranking members of Duke Energy Corporation were leaders within groups — including trade organizations and public relations firms — created and operated to undermine scientific evidence about the dangers of fossil fuel emissions and climate change.

The Town's complaint alleges that the groups, including the Edison Electric Institute and Global Climate Coalition, promoted, funded and cited "fringe" scientists who claimed that there is not enough scientific evidence to determine the long-term effects of climate change despite Duke Energy Corporation being aware of the dangers for decades. 

The Town’s legal claims for relief from Duke Energy include public nuisance, private nuisance, trespass, negligence and gross negligence. The lawsuit has been in the works for several years, Foushee said.

The Town is seeking reparations rather than asking for Duke Energy Corporation to change their practices. Oftentimes, lawsuits exposing maligned corporate behavior inadvertently lead corporations to change their conduct, Jim Warren, executive director of NC WARN, said. NC WARN is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit climate justice organization paying for the lawsuit.

For example, in 2005, NC WARN and the Union of Concerned Scientists exposed lenient procedures at some North Carolina nuclear power plants. The complaint led to a federal investigation from the Nuclear Regulatory Committee and later, the United States Government Accountability Office. The investigations resulted in significant fines and later, policy changes.

While organizations have sued energy corporations in the past — including lawsuits against NW Natural in Oregon and Exxon Mobil in Washington — Carrboro's lawsuit is the first against an electric power provider, Warren said.

Currently, the lawsuits in Oregon and Washington are actively ongoing and have not yet been brought to trial. Because Native American tribal land and reservations were at the heart of the case in Washington, it was moved to the federal court in early 2024. The Oregon lawsuit seeks over $1.55 billion in damages.

Though Carrboro's lawsuit is the first of its kind, utilities and fossil fuel companies are all pulling from the same playbook, Gabriela Sarri-Tobar, an energy justice campaigner with the Center for Biological Diversity, said. 

“They’re all engaging in greenwashing in an attempt to clean up their dirty image and deceive the public about the harms of fossil fuels,” she said. “And particularly, what fossil fuels are doing to aggravate the climate crisis and how they’re contributing to these devastating climate disasters, whether it’s a heat dome or extreme hurricanes like Hurricane Helene.” 

Town Council Member Randee Haven-O'Donnell said Carrboro has historically been committed to curbing the effects of climate change, but their efforts are offset by the amount of methane Duke Energy Corporation produces in a matter of hours.

Duke Energy Corporation is the fourth-largest electric utility in the world and owns 10 of the 100 power plants with the highest CO2 emissions in the United States. According to reporting from NBC News, in 2020, Duke Energy Corporation released around 11 metric tons of pollutant SF6 into the atmosphere from its facilities in the Carolinas alone. One pound of SF6 warms the planet as much as over 25,000 pounds of CO2 and stays in the atmosphere for several thousand years. 

The Daily Tar Heel reached out to Duke Energy Corporation's media line and could not reach a representative via phone.

Some of the climate-related damages Carrboro suffers due to climate change, delineated in the lawsuit, include road damage from hotter temperatures and excessive rainfall, stormwater flooding and air conditioning costs.

In the coming years, Carrboro could incur up to $6 million in damages due to climate change, Foushee said. For the 2023-24 fiscal year, she said the Town had an $81 million budget, meaning climate change damages would have taken up over 7 percent of the annual budget. 

It will likely be several years before there is an outcome to the lawsuit, but, on Jan. 10, Duke Energy Corporation is required to make an official filing in the case, Warren said.

“We might get a little glimpse of what their argument is going to be, which will be fascinating,” he said. “What do you say against this array of very serious charges?”

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