RALEIGH – Today, Roy Cooper continued his “Make Stuff Cost Less” tour, holding an event in Asheville to announce how he will work in the U.S. Senate to make life more affordable for working North Carolinians, focusing on tackling skyrocketing utility costs.
“Western North Carolina and families across the state are facing rising costs, including higher utility bills,” said Roy Cooper. “Politicians in Washington DC are failing to deliver relief, and my opponent Michael Whatley would only make it worse: He spent his career as a Big Oil lobbyist helping energy companies get rich while North Carolinians paid more. As Senator, I’ll work with anyone I can to stop utility bill increases and make stuff cost less for North Carolina families.”
“As an Asheville resident and the proud owner of Lookout Brewing in Black Mountain, I love what I do and where I live,” said John Garcia, owner of Lookout Brewing. “But my home utility bill has more than doubled and my brewery’s utility bill has risen by about $1,300. It’s clear that utilities just cost too much, and we need Roy Cooper in Washington DC to work to lower costs.”
This month, Roy released his plans to lower health care and grocery costs. At today’s event, he unveiled the third part of his plan to make stuff cost less, focused on how he’ll continue his work to lower the cost of utilities:
- Make sure data centers pay the full cost of all the power they use and prevent costs from being passed on to consumers.
- Reduce utility costs for consumers by working to encourage large tech companies to build their own energy sources.
- Ban utility companies from disconnecting power during dangerous heat and cold to keep families safe during periods of extreme weather.
- Modernize our energy grid to lower energy costs for consumers. Too much of our grid is old and inefficient. By modernizing parts of it we can increase reliability, create good-paying jobs and lower costs for families.
Roy will continue the Make Stuff Cost Less campaign in the coming weeks, talking about reducing the cost of housing and child care. He will meet with North Carolinians across the state to discuss his plans to fight for lower costs for working families in the U.S. Senate.
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