On August 14, 2009, most of the utilities obligated to purchase renewable energy from poultry and swine waste under the state’s renewable energy program submitted a Joint Motion to the North Carolina Utility Commission (NCUC) for some relief from these requirements. In the August Joint Motion, these utilities requested a reduction in the amount of poultry waste power they were obligated to purchase and a one year extension to the compliance date for both poultry and swine waste.

In an effort to resolve the utilities joint motion request to delay and modify these renewable energy requirements, the NCUC requested comments from interested parties and ultimately ruled that an evidentiary hearing was necessary to resolve this issue. The hearing, originally scheduled for Tuesday, December 8, has been delayed two weeks to allow for settlement discussions to continue between Fibrowatt and the state’s electric utilities.

“The parties to this motion have begun settlement discussions. The parties to this motion wish to determine whether these discussions will be successful prior to filing of rebuttal testimony and the hearing scheduled for December 8, 2009,” reads a joint motion (opens as .pdf) filed with the N.C. Utilities Commission. The parties have agreed to file a settlement proposal or move forward with plans for an evidentiary hearing by December 18, 2009.