Local residents and concerned citizens from as far away as Madison, Henderson and Buncombe counties pack Macon County Courthouse courtroom A at the Sept. 22 public hearing on Duke Energy’s rate hike request. Below, Canary Coalition Director Avram Friedman reads a statement at a press conference outside the courthouse before the hearing as former Eastern Band of Cherokee Vice Chief Bill Ledford (left) and Dr. Richard Fireman of NC Interfaith Power & Light look on.

It soon became a seeming never-ending procession of citizens stating their considered opposition to Duke Energy’s rate hike request.

For efficiency’s sake, a facilitator from the state Utilities Commission’s public staff called the names of people wanting to testify at the Sept. 22 public hearing four at a time, and had them line up “in the wings” before being seated and sworn in one-by-one. An hour into the hearing, those waiting were all wearing “Stop Cliffside” stickers provided by the Canary Coalition, a clean air advocacy group based in Sylva.

They came from as far away as Asheville, Brevard and even Madison County, but it was probably the opinions of local leaders and regular folks alike whose leanings carried the most weight with other area residents.

Ultimately, it’s what sways the members of the state's Utilities Commission that counts, as it eventually holds a final hearing in Raleigh next month and then renders a decision on the rate case, which seeks a 13.5 percent increase in rates from residential electric customers. That would be on top of a 4.5 percent hike granted in July to cover rising coal prices.

Critics of the rate hike have also tended to object to the new coal plant, saying it's environmentally and economically inappropriate. They say it is being built not to address energy needs in North Carolina but to enable Duke to sell power outside its current service areas, an allegation they have documented. The Canary Coalition distributed a recent article about Duke’s efforts to sell power to five South Carolina electric cooperatives. Its recent request to sell power to Orangeburg, S.C. was denied, but is being appealed.

Commission Chairman Edward Finley, Jr., who conducted the hearing, instructed those testifying that stating general opposition to the Cliffside coal plant was not pertinent, but that indicating opposition to the portion of the rate increase related to the plant would be entirely in order. Testimony was directed to Finley and fellow Commissioner William Culpepper.

Local Duke public relations representative Fred Alexander led the testimony with brief remarks in support of the rate hike. He acknowledged the unpopularity of the request but described it as necessary. “I assure you, we’re doing our part to continue to manage costs,” he said, adding that Duke's rates are 31 percent below the national average and 24 percent lower than average in the Southeast. He said Duke froze most salaries in 2009 and is cutting its budgets by $150 million.

He noted that Duke has not raised its rates since the early 1990s, but Canary Coalition’s Avram Friedman countered that assertion when his turn on the stand came. Friedman pointed out that Duke was granted a rate hike from 2003 to 2007 as part of the state's Clean Smokestacks legislation. Friedman asked why Duke should be granted a rate hike now that is intended partly to repay Duke for anti-pollution technologies customers supposedly already paid for.

The closest any of the early testimony came to supporting the rate hike request was in comments by John Burton of Bryson City. Burton said he tends to be good at seeing things from a number of perspectives, and in this case he partly views the rate request from the vantage of “an entrepreneur trying to contain costs.”

On the other hand, he said, “It's not obvious to me that Duke does not deserve to raise rates,” he said in the near-endorsement of the request. Burton said at Nantahala Outdoor Center where he works, he’s “seen huge increases in costs, but electricity has gone up less than many others.” At the same time, “The quality of transmission and reliability of service have gone way up. Part of the request is to pay for stuff that has dramatically improved the quality of the service,” Burton said, before he then reseated himself among Duke representatives, with whom he shook hands.

Subsequent witnesses also acknowledged the quality of Duke’s service but still did not support the rate hike request.

Dan Roland, who gave a Franklin P.O. Box as his address, said he's the operations manager for Jackson Paper and Stonewall Packaging in Sylva.

“We’re opposed to the rate hike request; we consider it a rate shock,” Burton said. “We understand cost pressures for Duke, but we question such a significant rate increase, especially on such short notice. We looked around for where to put Stonewall. We asked the support team from Duke about what the future would look like. They mentioned rate increases but weren’t specific.” Roland said that then, within weeks after siting the Stonewall operation locally, Duke came out with the announcement of the rate increase they were seeking. He pointed out the paper and packaging plants are commodity businesses, so “We can’t pass along the increase.”

Franklin town aldermen Verlin Curtis and Bob Scott both spoke dispassionately against the increase, with Curtis’ testimony citing a number of quantitative items of information militating against the request.

Former Cherokee Vice Chief Bill Ledford also testified against the increase, noting that the Eastern Band recently passed a resolution against the rate hike. Other groups recently going on record against the increase include the Swain County Board of Commissioners, the Marion City Council, the Jackson-Macon Conservation Alliance and the Western North Carolina Alliance, a grassroots environmental advocacy organization.

Courtroom A on the fourth floor of the Macon County Courthouse was fairly packed with those attending the hearing, though a press conference and rally by the Canary Coalition scheduled in advance of the hearing drew little attendance beyond its own members and a small gaggle of supporters.