A deep dive by Cardinal & Pine into Jennifer Balkcom’s campaign contributions revealed that she accepted thousands of dollars in donations from a utility company raising rates for North Carolinians and a Chinese-owned seed producer. Balkcom has received $5,500 from Duke Energy, as the company sought a double-digit percentage increase in utility bills for North Carolinians.
“Jennifer Balkcom’s campaign contributions say it all: her donors come first, her constituents come last,” said American Bridge 21st Century spokesperson Gus Nathanson. “She’s sold out North Carolina to utility companies jacking up rates and Chinese-owned businesses buying up the Tar Heel State’s farmland. She’s far from ‘America First.’ She’s not even North Carolina First.”
Read the full report here:
- Since her first campaign in 2022, Balkcom has received $5,500 in campaign contributions from Duke Energy
- In January, Balkcom received a $2,000 contribution from Duke Energy. Months later, the company sought an 18% increase in utility bills over a two-year period.
- Duke has since lowered its request, which Attorney General Jeff Jackson argued would be a 9.3% raise over the same period beginning in January 2027.
- By 2028, this would raise power bills by around $15 per month for the average household.
- In the summer of 2025, Balkcom voted for a law titled the “Power Bill Reduction Act” and for the subsequent veto override after it was vetoed by Gov. Josh Stein.
- The legislation was introduced by former Duke Energy North Carolina president Paul Newton.
- The bill allows Duke Energy to pass on the costs of power plants that are not yet operational to its customers, which could be $87 million more per year.
- Despite sponsoring a bill which prohibits adversarial governments from owning farmland and land within 50 miles of a military facility, Balkcom accepted a $1,000 campaign contribution from the Syngenta PAC.
Published: Aug 26, 2026