By Greg Childress

NC Newsline

With much fanfare, EMPOWERment Inc., held a ribbon-cutting in April for P.E.A.C.H Apartments, a 10-unit affordable housing complex it developed for low-income residents unable to pay Chapel Hill’s high rents.

At the ribbon cutting, U.S. Rep. Valerie Foushee (D-NC) and other dignitaries praised the nonprofit for its vision and persistence in addressing a critical need for safe and affordable housing in the town that is home to UNC Chapel Hill, the flagship university of the state’s 17-campus UNC System.

Families were supposed to begin moving into apartments for tenants earning at or below 30 percent of Area Median Income (AMI) the following month but it never happened. The anticipated move-ins were short circuited because Duke Energy Progress refused to run power to the apartments, citing the developer’s decision to use a single meter for billing purposes, according to a consumer complaint EMPOWERment Inc., filed against the energy company with the North Carolina Utilities Commission.

“We’ve tried to resolve this conflict, but we have no choice other than file this complaint so our tenants can have affordable housing,” said Delores Bailey, executive director of EMPOWERment INC. “Our building is at risk and 10 families in our community are struggling with housing when they shouldn’t have to be.”

According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), 30 percent AMI for the Durham-Chapel Hill HUD Metro Fair Market Rent Area is $22,250 for a family of one, $25,400 for a family of two, $28,600 for a family of three and $31,750 for a family of four.

Bailey said EMPOWERment Inc., decided to use one meter for the entire apartment complex to accommodate rooftop solar panels installed to reduce energy costs for low-income residents who would rent the apartments. The nonprofit’s contractors submitted plans for the single meter in July 2024 and Duke Energy ran the underground service for the single meter in October 2024, Bailey said, but the power company didn’t notify the nonprofit that it wouldn’t provide service until February 2025.

The Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) filed the complaint on behalf of the nonprofit.

“This came about because people who are already doing some of the most valuable community-building work out there found a way to use solar energy to lower the cost of living for our low-income neighbors,” said Nick Jimenez, senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center. “Using solar energy to lower the cost of living to help neighbors who need it is about the best use of solar I can think of. EMPOWERment is absolutely within its rights here and it deserves electric service immediately.”

EMPOWERment Inc., asked the state Utilities Commission for the following relief:

• Require Duke connect electric service to EMPOWERment’s PEACH Apartments immediately, while the commission considers this Emergency Complaint and Request for Declaratory Ruling, to prevent the risk of irreparable harm and health risks from the lack of essential electric service.
• Order that Duke permit the use of “master” meters when the lease between landlord and tenant states that the cost of electric and/or gas utilities is included in rental payments, as set forth in G. S. § 143-151. 42(b)(2).
• In the alternative, declare that a multifamily residential building is eligible to use a single “master” meter, with the commission’s approval, when served by a solar array.
• Require Duke to provide permanent electric service to the PEACH Apartments under the current single-meter configuration.

At issue in the disagreement is state law prohibiting master meters for electric and natural gas service in new residential buildings. One section of the law outlines an exception to the prohibition if the tenant and landlord agree in the lease that the cost of the electric service or natural gas service, or both, will be included in rental payments. North Carolina has generally required individual meters and service in tenants’ names for each unit in new residential building constructed on or after Sept. 1, 1977.

Bailey told NC Newsline that the energy utility would be paid by tenants in monthly rent payments under lease agreements between the nonprofit and tenants. The amount charged would depend on the number of bedrooms in the apartment, she said.

To rewire the units so that each has a meter would cost the nonprofit about $86,000, Bailey said.

“We don’t have that,” she said. “We don’t have that laying around somewhere.”

Bailey said it would take to three to six months to receive the parts needed to rewire the apartments if the nonprofit decided to go that route.

“My apartments are 85 percent done,” Bailey said. “I can’t have them sitting around for six months without an air conditioning to control the humidity in North Carolina. When it rains like it does and it gets hot like it does, I’m inviting mold issues.”

Duke Energy said it cannot comment on specific customers’ accounts. But did provide this statement in an email from spokesman Jeff Brooks: “Duke Energy service regulations, in compliance with North Carolina law, require residential units to have individual meters, no one master meter covering the entire building. These guidelines are in place to promote consistency in the quality and reliability of service to all customers.”

The nonprofit was unable to convince Duke Energy to allow the single meter to be used temporarily so families could move in while parts to rewire the building were ordered, Bailey said.

Further delays would cause hardships for tenants who planned to move into apartments last month, the complaint said. Target tenants earn between $11 and $16 an hour, Bailey said, and have been anxiously awaiting news about when they can move into the new apartments.

“EMPOWERment Inc., is a small nonprofit trying to do the right thing for all the right reasons,” Bailey said. “Thirty-percent and below [AMI] income are people like your grocery store baggers or your assistant teacher or the people who take your tickets at the movie theater — that’s who we’re working for.”

Investigative Reporter Greg Childress covers issues related to poverty, homelessness, and housing policy for NC Newsline where this story first appeared.