I got word on the heels of tomorrow’s Public Utilities Committee meeting that S1004 has been gutted and changed in the Senate!  So again we can scream Victory!

The low-down on what exactly happened goes something like this:

The North Carolina Senate has a very odd procedural rule that allows it to gut a bill and replace it with a completely different bill.  They can do this as long as the bill number and title remain the same.  In S1004’s case they kept the name and title and are changing the text of the bill to allow Progress Energy to change some of its coal fired plants to natural gas.

Be aware that HB1252 is still the bill we have been fighting and I am tracking it continuously.  We are half way there on defeating big cable’s sleeper hold on competition.  As long as we all keep the fight up, we won’t be saying goodnight to Irene any time soon!