Attorneys for Duke Energy and the town of Carrboro exchanged initial oral arguments Thursday in what both sides believe is the first instance of a U.S. municipality suing an electric utility over its climate change policies.
The parties spent more than five hours at the Wake County Courthouse in downtown Raleigh to answer questions from North Court Business Court Judge Mark Davis. The hearing was about Duke Energy’s motion to dismiss the case, which Carrboro seeks to advance into a pre-trial discovery phase and eventually a jury trial.
“We are going to be able to quantify the significant change in the use of fossil fuels as a result of Duke’s deception,” said Matthew Quinn, a lawyer representing Carrboro with the Raleigh firm Lewis & Roberts…