Is this the most outrageous Koch-funded lie yet about renewable energy?

It’s an admittedly crowded field of competitors, but by any fair assessment, the Koch Brother-funded group, Americans for Prosperity North Carolina may just have posted its most dishonest and ridiculous claim yet about renewable energy. As you can see in the tweet below and by following the link it contains, the group claims that North Carolina’s Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard (a modest law that moves the state in the direction of producing more sustainable energy and that will actually save consumers lots of money over time) “strangles” the “entire North Carolina economy.”

This is, simply put, a blatant and outrageous lie. Even if one conceded that the REPS somehow raises consumer electric bills in any significant way — something that is simply not true — North Carolina’s electric rates are currently below the national average.  This is true in all categories — residential, commercial industrial, transportation and overall.  Heck, North Carolina residential consumers pay less for electricity than Texans! North Carolina commercial and industrial consumers pay less than West Virginia businesses! Click here to review the latest data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. How could such rates be “strangling” the economy?

The bottom line: It’s no surprise that fossil fuel barons like the Kochs would put their paid mouthpieces to work to promote policies that pad their gigantic profits, but when the lies get this big, they really need to be called out. Let’s hope this dishonest effort to undermine renewables continues to fall flat.

ACT NOW: Single law strangles entire #NC economy – burdens families, biz & kills jobs. http://t.co/WtzA4NnfhI #ncga pic.twitter.com/ulgeuqcrOB

— AFP-NC (@AFPNC) July 21, 2015