Duke Energy Plaza Headquarters | 40 Story formerly Charlotte Metro Tower

[Hunted]

There’s now a good couple pages about Amazon on a thread that has absolutely nothing to do with Amazon.

Quit derailing this thread. 

Sidenote: Amazon didn’t include Charlotte on the shortlist. It’s over. Get over it. Life goes on.

[CLT>___]

Chill out @Hunted the person above is not even talking about Charlotte he is from Minneapolis as it clearly says under his icon. 

I agree lets not derail the thread further but the "side note" comment you make is just being aggressive and obnoxious. 

Getting this thread back on track. I am starting to hear more grumbling around the industry about this tower so I do believe it is going to happen after this rate hike talk settles down. 

[KJHburg]

It makes sense financially for Duke to own their space it is much cheaper in the long run.  They own this land and they are not in the land speculation business I believe sooner or later there will be a Duke owned and anchored tower on it. 

[queensguy06]

Pardon my ignorance, but what sort of time table are we looking at for said rate hike?  Is this something that will be settled by Q3?

[SydneyCarton]

I saw testimonials against the rate hike on the news the other day.  Basically, everyone was on the verge of tears stating that a rate hike will ruin there lives.  I hate to sound callous, but if things are so tight that an extra $30 per month will change their lives, they need to become more energy efficient anyway.

[navigator319]

3 hours ago, SydneyCarton said:

I saw testimonials against the rate hike on the news the other day.  Basically, everyone was on the verge of tears stating that a rate hike will ruin there lives.  I hate to sound callous, but if things are so tight that an extra $30 per month will change their lives, they need to become more energy efficient anyway.

Admittedly I don't know much about the rate hike request/process but 30/month does not sound correct, sounds WAY to high. Are you sure that is the correct ballpark?  

Maybe 30/year so an extra 2/3 a month??  I'd be pissed if my bill went up 30/month!  

[Cadi40]

If it’s 30 dollars a month more that is $360 extra a year. That could easily go into a vacation or a TV or a whole different energy company. I would be extremely mad if they were to bump up prices then announce they are building a new tower.

[Popsickle]

Ok, so, it's a 16.7% increase on residential billing which equates to an average of $17.80 per household per NCwarn.org and multiple other news outlets that are/have been reporting on this for months. Newer reports suggest that Duke has lowered the request to 13%.

Furthermore, rate hikes are commonplace in the utilities industry, they happen periodically. It's been reported and talked about here how Wells is pushing Duke out of the Power Tower and how more jobs will be moving to Charlotte from Raleigh from the Progress Energy merger years ago.

If they want to build their own tower, I don't have a problem with that at all. 

[SydneyCarton]

3 hours ago, navigator319 said:

Admittedly I don't know much about the rate hike request/process but 30/month does not sound correct, sounds WAY to high. Are you sure that is the correct ballpark?  

Maybe 30/year so an extra 2/3 a month??  I'd be pissed if my bill went up 30/month!  

I was just guessing with a number on the high side.   Honestly though, $30 per month wouldn't cover a dinner for two at Firebirds or the Cheesecake Factory (unless maybe the couple drinks tap water and gives a cheap tip).

[cjd5050]

7 hours ago, SydneyCarton said:

I saw testimonials against the rate hike on the news the other day.  Basically, everyone was on the verge of tears stating that a rate hike will ruin there lives.  I hate to sound callous, but if things are so tight that an extra $30 per month will change their lives, they need to become more energy efficient anyway.

I was just guessing with a number on the high side.   Honestly though, $30 per month wouldn't cover a dinner for two at Firebirds or the Cheesecake Factory (unless maybe the couple drinks tap water and gives a cheap tip).

 

So there is a % of people who live paycheck to paycheck and these people are also likely renters.  How do you suggest a renter living paycheck to paycheck become energy efficient to offset $360.00 a year in a home they do not own?  

 

[Cadi40]

24 minutes ago, SydneyCarton said:

I was just guessing with a number on the high side.   Honestly though, $30 per month wouldn't cover a dinner for two at Firebirds or the Cheesecake Factory (unless maybe the couple drinks tap water and gives a cheap tip).

It’s not about eating at the Cheesecake Factory, It’s about the extra $360 a year. Maybe not to you but $360 is a lot of money for other people that live paycheck to paycheck.

[SydneyCarton]

15 minutes ago, cjd5050 said:

So there is a % of people who live paycheck to paycheck and these people are also likely renters.  How do you suggest a renter living paycheck to paycheck become energy efficient to offset $360.00 a year in a home they do not own?  

 

I'm not being callous, but they could use energy efficient bulbs, shut lights when they leave a room, wear sweaters inside, use more blankets, use more fans and less ac in the summer.

 

 

Edited January 28, 2018 by SydneyCarton

[elrodvt]

30 minutes ago, SydneyCarton said:

I'm not being callous, but they could use energy efficient bulbs, shut lights when they leave a room, wear sweaters inside, use more blankets, use more fans and less ac in the summer.

 

 

You obviously have no empathy for the poor. Think about what you're saying. Maybe read a book about the life of a person living in poverty.

[Richhamleigh, DC]

32 minutes ago, SydneyCarton said:

I'm not being callous, but they could use energy efficient bulbs, shut lights when they leave a room, wear sweaters inside, use more blankets, use more fans and less ac in the summer.

 

 

Not being callous?  You appear to presume that poor people are poor because of their life choices.   That may not be callous, but it is ignorant.    I apologize to the Board for topic digression.

[KJHburg]

Not sure where this $30 a month came from I guess it depends on how much energy you do use.

Here is an Observer article about it for it seems to say the "average" customer would see a $18 a month increase. 

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/article169309197.html

And yes believe me many people  live paycheck to paycheck.     

[cjd5050]

1 hour ago, SydneyCarton said:

I'm not being callous, but they could use energy efficient bulbs, shut lights when they leave a room, wear sweaters inside, use more blankets, use more fans and less ac in the summer.

 

Yes, you are.   An energy efficient light bulb saves about $1.23 annually.    So light bulbs and sweaters and blankets.  Nice.   We have $270 to $200 more to go.  What else you got?  

 

Besides, it's not just about the poor.  We are in a thread discussing a high rise that's not needed at the same time talking about a massive rate hike.    From a company lead by millionaires and with billions in revenue.   DEC could easily find alternatives for office space that cost much less.  They could also afford to pay for these items out of their own profits.   

Come to think of it..it's somewhat amusing that when the conversation is about an unnecessary stadium for the Panthers there is much more of a vocal outrage for the fleecing of the poor and the pocketbook of the many than here.  I wonder if the Panthers could find a way to get the new stadium to be in a skyscraper if that would change how many here feel about it?    Or is there just a double standard based on personal bias?  

 

[go_vertical]

Let's not forget that a big reason for this increase request is so that they can pay for the coal ash clean-up, something that I don't think should be put on the customer's shoulders. I think if anything they should only be allowed 4 or 5 percent as that should roughly be what is needed to cover cost increases. To hand their customers a bill for their BS business practices is disgusting.

[DMann]

Shades of the Exxon Valdez!

 

[AuLukey]

Let's not forget that a big reason for this increase request is so that they can pay for the coal ash clean-up, something that I don't think should be put on the customer's shoulders. I think if anything they should only be allowed 4 or 5 percent as that should roughly be what is needed to cover cost increases. To hand their customers a bill for their BS business practices is disgusting.

The rate hike is also going towards modernization of the power grid (part of which is burying the lines that so many here are so accustomed to bashing.)

Energy costs in Charlotte are significantly lower than most other metros, Duke has done well to keep costs down, but the aging infrastructure is taking a toll on costs. It is more economical to increase rates to pay for the upgrades than it is to increase rates to pay for the growing maintenance costs which will just continue to build.

[SydneyCarton]

Sorry to have offended anyone.  I don't know anyone for whom $30 per month would make a difference.  I guess there are a lot more destitute people in NC than I thought.

[kermit]

2 hours ago, AuLukey said:

The rate hike is also going towards modernization of the power grid (part of which is burying the lines that so many here are so accustomed to bashing.)

RE grid modernization: Really? I don't doubt you, but I had not heard that modernization was part of the plan, my understanding of the rate request was it was about managing increasing costs plus the coal ash issue.  Where do they discuss their grid modernization plans?

[Niner National]

22 minutes ago, SydneyCarton said:

Sorry to have offended anyone.  I don't know anyone for whom $30 per month would make a difference.  I guess there are a lot more destitute people in NC than I thought.

There are.  Leave the cities and you will see poverty everywhere.  I was down in Rockingham on Thursday and basically once you get past Monroe, it is poverty all the way to Wilmington. 

There was a church in Anson county on my trip back that was feeding the poor. There was a line wrapped around the building with people waiting for food.

[SydneyCarton]

In my ten years in NC, I have lived in nice suburban areas (Myers Park and Chapel Hill), so I haven't really seen poverty.

It's not like in old, northern cities where you drive through areas like NE D.C., the South side on Chi., South Bx, etc., and see massive housing projects.   Or for that matter, the clear poverty that one sees in bigger southern cities like Atl.....

Perhaps, NC should perhaps augment welfare programs like in the NE and West Coast.  

Anyway, I'd like to see this tower rise.

Edited January 28, 2018 by SydneyCarton

[15895]

1 minute ago, SydneyCarton said:

In my ten years in NC, I find myself in nice suburban areas (Myers Park and Chapel Hill), so I haven't really seen poverty.

It's not like in old, northern cities where you drive through areas like NE D.C., the South side on Chi., South Bx, etc., and see massive housing projects. 

Perhaps, NC should perhaps augment welfare programs like in the NE and West Coast.  

 

Wow. I have ignored all of these post so far because this forum is about skyscrapers, but... you are being a super douche right now with these crap hole comments.

 

I'm pretty sure most all of us here have lived in well off areas btw. 

[SydneyCarton]

Thanks.  You have a way with words.