On April 25, we attended the ribbon cutting of EMPOWERment Inc’s milestone project, P.E.A.C.H Apartments. The atmosphere was jubilant. Community leaders and elected officials were in abundance. Tenants had already been lined up to begin moving in to the multifamily affordable housing project built quickly, and with no lasting debt.
Now, EMPOWERment Inc., represented by the Southern Environmental Law Center, has filed a consumer complaint at the North Carolina Utilities Commission over Duke Energy’s refusal to provide electrical service to their multifamily affordable housing complex that will be outfitted with rooftop solar to reduce energy consumption and lower electricity costs. These cost savings will allow EMPOWERment to include electric service in the cost of rent, further reducing the overall cost of living for low-income tenants.
Now fully completed, the property sits unoccupied until the matter is resolved. Tenants, who were once expecting to be already living there, or planning to move in will have to wait. It is not clear how long at this point
The P.E.A.C.H. Apartments are intended to serve Orange County residents earning at or below 30% of the area median income, many of whom are single parents working minimum-wage or near-minimum-wage jobs, typically earning between $11 and $16 an hour. Some potential tenants are currently living in unstable conditions—such as “couch surfing” with friends or family—which is a form of homelessness. These unstable living situations highlight the critical and urgent need to open P.E.A.C.H. Apartments and provide these individuals with safe, permanent housing.
“At EMPOWERment, we are experts in affordable housing, community organizing, and grassroots economic development. We are not solar experts. EMPOWERment added rooftop solar for its energy efficiency, health and environmental benefits, and lower costs for tenants,” said Delores Bailey, executive director of EMPOWERment Inc. “We’ve tried to resolve this conflict, but we have no choice other than file this complaint so our tenants can have affordable housing. Our building is at risk and ten families in our community are struggling with housing when they shouldn’t have to be.”
To facilitate the rooftop solar, EMPOWERment’s contractors installed a single electrical meter for the entire building, rather than an individual meter for each of the ten units. The contractors submitted these plans to Duke Energy in July of 2024 and Duke Energy ran the underground service for the single meter in October of 2024.
But in February of 2025, Duke Energy told EMPOWERment that it would not provide electrical service because of the single-meter configuration. State law allows master meters when utilities are included in rent—precisely EMPOWERment’s model for P.E.A.C.H. Apartments.
At this point, rewiring the building for 10 separate meters will be prohibitively expensive. This would also cause significant delays in 10 families who were planning to move in by now. Additionally, since the completed building has no operating climate control, there is a danger of formation of mold and mildew in a brand new building.
“We urge the North Carolina Utilities Commission to do what’s right: turn on the power, let these families come home, and support affordable, sustainable housing in our state,” added Leah Adeniji, deputy director of EMPOWERment Inc.