(1)Join others from ICCT at Walnut Creek Wetlands Park Center in Southeast Raleigh for PEJ’s Expo and be inspired by local environmental justice projects.
To register, click here: Sign Up.
Cohosted by PEJ and the Raleigh Innovation Team (i-Team), the Expo celebrates the achievements of Walnut Creek Watershed Learning Network (WCWLN) graduates. These exciting local projects focus on:
Green Infrastructure
Education & Empowerment
Equitable Development
If you’re someone who’s passionate about environmental justice, join us for project presentations, authentic New Orleans cuisine from Quizine Orleans, and community connections.
To register, click here: Sign Up.
Submitted by Gail Powell from Pullen Memorial Baptist Church that has a partnership with PEJ.
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(2) A petition to Duke Energy to make solar panels at faithcommunities and non-profits more affordable again.
How excess energy sent back to the grid is measured
Submitted by William Dolbow on behalf of the NC Council of Churches Energy Working Group, formerly NC Power & Light.
You are invited to bring this petition to your congregation or to your justice and creation care teams for consideration. It’s a great way to start a conversation about renewable energy!
The petition urges Duke Energy to restore the billing system used prior to 2023 to reimburse faith communities and non-profits for the excess solar energy they produce over and above what they use. The excess gets send to the grid. The petition is being circulated by the Energy Working Group of the NC Council of Churches Eco-Justice Connection (formerly NC Power & Light).
The petition urges Duke Energy to allow faith communities and non-profits that have installed or want to install solar panels to opt out of Duke Energy’s changes to their “net metering” billing arrangements. The current billing arrangements decrease the ability of the non-profits to afford to install solar.
All faith communities and non-profits are invited to sign the petition even if you are not considering solar panels and stand in solidarity with congregations that have solar or want solar.
Net metering is a billing arrangement whereby a customer who generates their own electricity from renewable energy resources can receive a credit on their electric utility bill for any extra electricity produced by the customer that flows back onto the electric utility’s distribution system.
All non-profits and faith communities that have already installed solar will be receiving less credit for the extra electricity they produce that goes back to the grid. And congregations that are considering solar will no longer have the financial incentives to do so.
To learn more about the forced net metering changes, visit this Duke Energy Carolinas link and click on “Learn more about your billing options” and then “Non-residential Solar Choice Rider”: Generate Your Own Renewable Energy – Duke Energy (duke-energy.com). A similar page is available for Duke Energy Progress.
If you have questions about installing solar or about the petition, please contact William Dolbow at wdolbow@gmail.com.
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(3) Why ICCT is concerned about the lobbying practices of Duke Energy in North Carolina
Duke Energy has quietly become one of the most powerful funders behind politicians in the General Assembly at a time when they have passed their latest congressional gerrymander. The monopoly utility company is among the top donors to the lawmakers who led last month’s mid-decade redrawing of the map according to an article from the Energy & Policy Institute. It connects the dots between Duke Energy’s political donations and the weakening of democracy in North Carolina.
ICCT is concerned about this because it’s crystal clear that the health of our planet is directly related to the health of our democracy. Autocratic leaders have a poor record of championing measures that care for Creation.
See this article to learn more about the importance of working to restore fairness and justice in North Carolina’s government and in our utilities system.
In an earlier newsletter issue, we told you about ICCT’s endorsement with the Utility Fairness Campaign that youth of the Sunrise Movement Durham hub are leading. After the first of the year you will be hearing more about this initiative from ICCT’s Advocacy Team. If you’d like to jump on board earlier, contact ICCTriangle@gmail.com to join a virtual Team meeting to learn more.
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(4) Your electric bill will rise in NC. Here’s how, and who’s to blame.
A must-read opinion piece in the News & Observer on November 10, 2025 is entitled “Your electric bill will rise in NC. Here’s how, and who’s to blame.” It was written by Dale Evarts, a member of the Earth Care Witness Committee of the Durham Friends Meeting (Quaker) who’s also a climate and air quality expert. From 1988-2018, he worked with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to reduce air pollution. He has worked with the United Nations and other countries to reduce pollutants. Congratulations on its publication, Dale!
Dale writes that “electricity prices are rising at more than twice the rate of inflation, and one in every six U.S. households is already behind on their electric or gas bills. Meanwhile, nearly 60 electric and gas utilities are raising or trying to raise utility bills for 56 million electric customers and 26 million gas customers this year.
“Because of the ‘big beautiful bill,’ American households will see their electricity prices increase by $130 per year by 2030. North Carolina is faring even worse: Duke Energy Carolinas received approval for rate increases that will result in average monthly bills increasing by $220 per year by 2026. If the clean energy tax credits had been in place, Americans would instead be saving $38 billion on electricity bills by 2030.”
Read the full article here.
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(5) Watch good news on the Transition to Renewable Energy from the ICCT Convention
Click on the screen above for John Morrison’s talk
John Morrison gave a rich and comprehensive presentation on “Causes for Optimism in the Energy Transition” at the ICCT’s September 2025 Convention. The abrupt reversal of federal policy for clean energy is unfortunate, he said, but will not halt the transition to a clean energy future. Maturing technologies and falling costs mean that clean energy will replace fossil fueled sources of energy. It is no longer a question of “if” but rather how quickly humankind can make the change. If our government won’t lead, we as individuals and communities of faith can!
Special note: Thanks to John Wilson, a documentary filmmaker in Chapel Hill, for shooting and editing the video. See his documentaries at vimeo.com/album/220893 and at pbs.org/show/climate-stories-nc
Click here to see the excellent PowerPoint presentation
John Morrison is an engineer by training, a business person, and a Preacher’s Kid by birth. The intersection of faith and energy comes naturally. He grew up in the Presbyterian Church and his faith is central to his career dedicated to caring for creation and creating means for all to live sustainably.
The video and the PowerPoint can also be found on the ICCT website in a recap of the Convention.
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(6) Get your congregation involved in invasive species removal at Prairie Ridge Ecostation. It’s fun!
Prarie Ridge Ecostation
Located in west Raleigh and open to the public, the Prairie Ridge Ecostation is the outdoor extension of the NC Museum of Natural Science with a green Outdoor Classroom, a native plant garden and arboretum, a series of ponds and vernal pools and a trail system winding through the prairie and forest. There’s also the Nature PlaySpace, a safe, popular space for nature-based play for young children.
Please share this invitation with the youth groups and Creation care and justice groups at your congregation.
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Hello, I’m Emma Blackford, head of the Prairie Ridge Ecostation. Part of the work that we do out at Prairie Ridge is natural resource management, working to steward and maintain native ecosystems to support our native plants and wildlife. As part of our management, we are actively engaged in an intense battle with the invasive plant species that are, and would love to continue, to call Prairie Ridge home.
I have been reaching out to various people to try to connect with groups interested in service opportunities involving invasive species removal. Our greatest nemesis currently is non-native blackberry. Digging out blackberry plants is hard work, but we make it fun (students seem to love turning it into a competition) and we provide all equipment and gear – and snacks! Our blackberry removal season is typically January through March, although we have various invasive species removal opportunities year-round.
Would conducting invasive species removal at Prairie Ridge be something that you would be interested in pursuing?
I appreciate your consideration – please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions. Thank you!
Emma Blackford, Head of Prairie Ridge Ecostation emma.blackford@naturalsciences.org, 919-707-8880
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(7) Share this opportunity to partner with Umstead Park UCC on a Guns To Gardens event with your congregation.
Umstead Park United Church of Christ (UPUCC) in Raleigh is partnering with RAWTools South Asheville to offer a Guns to Gardens safe surrender event on June 13, 2026, which is during Gun Violence Prevention Month. They are looking for partner faithcongregations to help them fund and carry out the event, which they will host at UPUCC.
Here is the recording of a recent information session to watch and share with others. And here are the slides of the “next steps.”
Congregations that are ready to indicate a commitment to partnering with UPUCC on the Guns To Gardens initiative are asked to reach out to Associate Pastor, Paula Wormack (paula@upucc.org) by the end of January 2026.
“Guns to Gardens” is a movement and gun safe surrender program where firearms are collected, dismantled and then transformed into garden tools or other artistic creations, often in partnership with local faith communities. This initiative aims to reduce gun violence by providing a constructive way to dispose of unwanted firearms while promoting peace. Trained volunteers, often blacksmiths, transform the metal into various garden tools, such as shovels, trowels, or mattocks and sometimes into artistic pieces. The process of turning weapons into tools is deeply symbolic, representing a shift from violence to growth, from destruction to creation and from harm to healing. The program draws inspiration from the biblical passage Isaiah 2:4, which speaks of beating swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks, signifying a transformation from warfare to agriculture.
UPUCC would like to do this important and much needed work together with you!
