Feb. 10, 2015
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Francis De Luca (919) 834-2099 francis.deluca@nccivitas.org
RALEIGH – The most recent Civitas Poll shows North Carolina voters’ support for renewable power mandates drops sharply when they are asked to consider paying for it.
State law mandates that North Carolina power companies increase the use of renewable energy sources. The survey showed 63 percent of voters approved of the mandate – when it was considered in the abstract.
A follow-up question, however, asked those who supported the mandate what they thought after being informed the same law allows utilities to charge customers more to pay for renewable energy. Of those who previously supported the mandate, only 57 percent still supported it, while 37 percent changed their minds and opposed the mandate.
Text of selected questions*:
Do you support or oppose keeping a law that requires North Carolina electric companies to increase the use of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar to generate an amount equal to 12.5 percent of all its electricity?
63% Total Support
23% Total Oppose
43% Strongly Support
20% Somewhat Support
9% Somewhat Oppose
14% Strongly Oppose
14% Don’t Know/ No Opinion
(If respondents on the previous question said they supported the renewable energy laws, they were then asked …)
If you knew the electric company was allowed to charge higher prices for electricity to cover the higher cost of producing energy from renewable sources such as wind, solar and other sources, would you still support the renewable mandate law, or would you now oppose it?
57% Total Support
37% Total Oppose
31% Strongly Support
26% Somewhat Support
14% Somewhat Oppose
22% Strongly Oppose
6% Don’t Know/ No Opinion
*Totals may not add up to 100 due to rounding.
Crosstabs here.
About the poll: This poll of 600 registered voters in North Carolina was conducted Feb. 1-3, 2015 by National Research, Inc., of Holmdel, NJ. All respondents were part of a fully representative sample of registered general election voters in North Carolina. Thirty percent of the respondents were cell phone-only users. For purposes of this study, voters interviewed had to have voted in at least one of the past two general elections (2012, 2014) or be newly registered to vote since November 1, 2014. The confidence interval associated with a sample of this size is such that: 95 percent of the time, results from 600 interviews (registered voters) will be within +-4% of the “True Values.”
Civitas conducts the only regular live-caller polling of North Carolina voters. For more information on Civitas polling, see http://www.nccivitas.org/category/poll/.
The Civitas Institute – “North Carolina’s Conservative Voice” – is a policy institute based in Raleigh, N.C. More information is available at www.nccivitas.org, or contact Jim Tynen at (919) 834-2099 or james.tynen@nccivitas.org.
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