Washington, D.C. – Today, EDF Action Votes, LCV Victory Fund, and NRDC Action Votes launched a new $1.5 million ad campaign in North Carolina targeting Republican Senate candidate Michael Whatley over his two-decade career as a lobbyist for Big Oil and Duke Energy. Duke and the oil industry are now backing Whatley even as Duke requests rate hikes on North Carolina families. The ad, “Their Man,”  will run on CTV, YouTube, and digital audio through Sept. 28th.

WATCH: “Their Man” 

“Michael Whatley has spent his career going to bat for the utilities and oil companies who are gouging North Carolinians on their power bills and at the gas pump,” said Dustin Ingalls, Director of EDF Action Votes. “North Carolinians deserve a Senator in Roy Cooper who will fight to lower energy costs, not a corporate lobbyist who made his living working for Duke Energy and Big Oil.”

Before running for Senate, Whatley was a founding partner of HBW Resources, a Washington lobbying firm that created and ran Consumer Energy Alliance, an industry group whose members include Duke Energy, Exxon, and Chevron. While lobbying for the group, Whatley and his colleagues argued in favor of utility rate increases in North Carolina and asked state regulators to let Duke Energy pass cleanup costs from its 2014 coal ash spill on to customers. Federal filings show Whatley still owned a one-third stake in HBW as of April 2026.

“Michael Whatley has spent his career helping powerful interests and polluters profit without consequence while North Carolina families struggle. When Duke Energy spilled coal ash into North Carolina’s rivers, Michael Whatley and his fellow lobbyists asked regulators to make families pay for the cleanup. That tells North Carolinians everything they need to know about whose side he’s on,” said Jon Colmenares, Deputy Director of NRDC Action Votes. “Big Polluters already have bought loyalty in Washington for years. North Carolina needs a Senator who will hold them accountable.”

North Carolina families have already seen average residential electric bills rise 16.8% in just eight months as Whatley’s Senate campaign has taken $12,500 from the PACs of Duke Energy and the American Petroleum Institute, Big Oil’s top lobbying group. This is not the first time we have seen Whatley play politics with people, just last week during a rally for Whatley, Trump threatened to withhold FEMA funding from North Carolinians if Whatley does not win this November.

“North Carolinians are paying more every month to keep the lights on,” said Sara Schreiber, SVP of Campaigns, LCV Victory Fund. “Meanwhile, Michael Whatley has spent his career making millions cozying up to Big Oil and Gas companies. Energy costs are on the ballot this election year and North Carolinians deserve to know where Whatley’s loyalties lie. They deserve a Senator who will stand up for them and help to make stuff cost less.” 

###