ENERGY EVOLUTION: Solar, wind and demand for efficiency alter the power landscape.

• Position: ENERGY ROUND TABLE

The energy industry in the Carolinas is evolving rapidly. North Carolina has become a leader in the Southeast for solar energy. The grid is being modernized. Even the way buildings are designed and retrofitted is progressing to meet changing energy needs and requirements. Our round table participants are intimately familiar with the changes taking place in the energy business.

THE CAROLINAS HAVE NEARLY 1,000 ENERGY COMPANIES OF ALL KINDS. IS THAT DIVERSITY A BLESSING OR A CURSE?

[BOWMAN] It is a great place to have a utility in an environment where you have so many players in the energy sector. Working with what we've been given here in North Carolina makes Duke Energy one of the leading utilities in the nation. We've got fabulous universities.

We have competing interests. I think that brings about innovation. We've got a broad manufacturing base that is focused on reliability and low-cost energy. We need to continue to focus on that, because in North Carolina, on a hot humid day we use a lot of energy in this state.

WHAT ARE SOME CHALLENGES, ESPECIALLY AS THE ENERGY INDUSTRY CHANGES TO INCLUDE RENEWABLES AND DISTRIBUTED SYSTEMS?

[CHERRY] We've seen some local governments question solar-energy installations--they're not sure about it. They have questions, and they don't know what it is. Not only do you have to have your eye on what's happening at the state level, but you also have to focus on the local level, because those folks are the ones that have the codes, and they have to talk to the neighbors. As we develop new technologies, like electric vehicles and energy-storage systems, that's going to be another wave of the same conversation we're seeing now at the local level.

[NWADIKE] SunEnergy has grown tremendously since its inception. However, we have seen areas where there has to be [more] growth. The [Trump solar panel] tariff affected us. It slowed down the developers building at that time.

[MAZZOLLA] We're doing all this stuff that is not optimal. It's not even close to optimal. How can we do this in a way that satisfies disparate interests in our society? In the Southeast, we have a lot of culture so we have to also be true to that as well. I think the public universities in the Southeast can and should think about those social and policy things from the standpoint of how we're going to grow it and make it work.

THERE HAVE BEEN SOME RECENT STUMBLES IN THE ENERGY INDUSTRY. IS THE INDUSTRY CONTRACTING IN THE CAROLINAS, OR EVOLVING?

[BOWMAN] I absolutely think it's an evolution. I don't think it's contracting. We still use lots of energy every day. I think we're getting more efficient about our usage, conservation and energy-efficiency programs, and the advances in technology. As technology evolves, the energy industry is going to evolve too. I...