Election 2026: Cooper laments energy costs that rose during his governorship
Alan Wooten
Center Square
August 25, 2026
Fulfilling the executive order of first-term Democratic Gov. Josh Stein, his Energy Policy Task Force presented a report showing energy prices in North Carolina rose faster than any state from 2017-24.
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Roy Cooper has campaigned across the state in a tour labeled “Make Stuff Cost Less.”
…
In the Southeast from 2017 to 2024, no state had a faster rise in electricity prices than North Carolina. While Stein lays blame with natural gas, Cooper stayed in lock step with the Biden administration’s $891 billion Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 that produced a staggering 9.1% inflation rate.
The Nash County governor now calling Raleigh home refused signature on the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. Throughout his political career that dates back five decades to 1988, he’s picked up $440,000 in campaign contributions from Duke Energy.
Duke Energy is the largest residential energy supplier in the state.
…
Republicans in statewide races for this decade – 2020, 2022 and 2024 – are 32-10 against Democrats, a party with significantly declining voter registrations for more than 20 consecutive years.
###