NC lawmakers are making regular people pay for data centers’ huge electricity needs | Opinion
Inflation is squeezing Charlotte families, yet our legislature passed Senate Bill 266, which shifts utility costs from corporations to households. Electric bills rose 8% to 11% in recent rate cases. Families are struggling, while massive data centers and AI facilities, which consume enormous amounts of electricity, expand across North Carolina.
Instead of requiring companies to pay their fair share, S266 allows utilities to pass costs to residents, even for speculative projects. These hidden subsidies reward big tech at the expense of working people. Growth should not come at the cost of higher bills for ordinary households. Legislators must repeal or amend S266 and protect residents from bankrolling corporate expansion.
David M. Schmida, Charlotte
Missing BBQ
Say it ain’t so. Mallard Creek Barbecue is no more. My wife and I moved to Charlotte in 1967. Her co-workers said there were two places we had to visit to become Charlotteans: Mallard Creek Barbecue and Festival in the Park. The BBQ is some of the best we have had.
We did not go to meet the politicians. We could care less about shaking their hands or taking their flyers. We went to get BBQ sandwiches, coleslaw and Brunswick stew. I was glad the Brunswick was not made with squirrel as my great uncles did in Georgia family reunions.
We were never disappointed in our food. Our only criticism was the event was on a Thursday. We had to rush to get there after work, but it was worth fighting the crowd and traffic. Will Festival in the Park be canceled next year?
Augie Beasley, Charlotte
Unconstitutional deployment
Once a court has declared a military deployment within the United States to be unconstitutional, every military branch member is bound by their oath to defend the Constitution to neither give nor obey an order for such a deployment. If there was ever an idea that permeates the soul of the U.S. from its founding to the present, it is that.
Alexander Levy, Charlotte
Charter schools
The article “Charter schools vs. CMS performance in Charlotte 2025 ” highlights the growing attention toward charter schools. As a father of four school-going immigrant children who came to the U.S. with the dream of an equitable life, I fear this shift in funding will erode not only our traditional public schools but the culture of unity they built through decades of struggle.
Public schools are more than classrooms — they are where children from every background learn to belong. As resources move toward charter schools, rural, low-income and immigrant students will be left further behind. The gap between privilege and disadvantage will only deepen. Let us strengthen, not divide, the system that binds us together.
Arif Sharif, Apex
Roadless rule
Save our forests! The 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which once protected 59 million acres of America’s national forests, was rescinded by the Trump administration. In North Carolina, this removes safeguards from 172,000 acres of wild forest in Pisgah, Nantahala, and Croatan National Forests — opening them to logging, road construction, and industrial exploitation.
These forests purify our air and water, shelter wildlife and provide recreation and peace. Their loss would be irreversible. This rollback follows massive budget cuts, staff reductions and deferred maintenance, eroding our public lands from within. Teddy Roosevelt would be turning in his grave. I urge North Carolina’s legislators to restore protections for these irreplaceable forests — preserving them for future generations.
Sandra O’Neill, Cornelius
Taxpayer neglect
The waste of taxpayer funds signals time for change on Charlotte City Council. First, paying the police chief $305,000 for a lawsuit never filed. and now paying the outgoing interim city attorney $56,000 for three days of work. When one party continuously controls, neglect of the taxpayer prevails.
Jim Shuback, Charlotte
Voltaire’s word
The governor of Illinois and the mayor of Chicago have voiced opposition to the president’s deployment of National Guard troops to Chicago. The president said on social media that these two men should be imprisoned. What is more shocking than what the president said is the number of people who would willingly drag these two men away. To quote Voltaire: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.
Joe Salerno, Charlotte