North Carolina
Iced-over North Carolina faces grid preparedness questions after other states enact stricter laws
North Carolinians scrambled to find generators ahead of this weekend’s ice and snow.
Now questions are resurfacing about whether the state should adopt laws to better protect the power grid. The answers may lie in other states, such as Texas, which also dealt with winter storms this weekend.
Winter Storm Uri in 2021 left at least 200 people dead and more than 4 million homes and businesses without power when it hit Texas five years ago.
The crisis caused Texas lawmakers to pass laws requiring public utilities to better prepare power infrastructure for extreme weather. The law also created penalties for noncompliance and allowed funding for backup power at hospitals and other critical facilities.
The new requirements appear to be working: As of Monday, there were few to no power outages reported in nearly all Texas counties, according to KDFW-TV, a Dallas news station, even though this weekend’s storm brought record-breaking snowfall to the state.
North Carolina, which faces winter storms occasionally, still relies primarily on emergency response and voluntary utility measures, raising the question: Should the state wait for disaster before taking certain proactive actions?
“This storm reaffirmed that preparation is key and can make a real difference in saving lives,” Gov. Josh Stein told WRAL Monday.
Duke Energy, which provides power to nearly all North Carolina businesses and residents, says that even without mandates it still regularly takes voluntary action to prepare and improve the state’s power grid.
North Carolina has had more power outages than all but three other states since 2000, according to U.S. Department of Energy data.
“The Texas situation should have sprung us into action, to think about this in advance,” North Carolina state Rep. Pricey Harrison, D-Guilford, said, adding that she’s not aware of any rules here similar to what Texas instituted.
Measures in North Carolina
Harrison said there were some measures she believed were beneficial but they are no longer laws. There is weatherization funding available for individual homeowners under the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. “Unfortunately, that funding has been cut pretty dramatically at the federal level,” Harrison told WRAL.
WRAL asked Senate Leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, and House Speaker Destin Hall, R-Caldwell, whether the state should adopt new laws to better protect the power grid from future storms. Neither indicated they’d support new requirements on utilities.
A spokesperson for Hall says he’s focused on “maintaining a strong rainy-day fund to ensure we are prepared to weather future natural disasters if necessary.”
Berger said he’s been in touch with emergency officials and that “since we’re still in the middle of the storm and do not have damage estimates, it is premature to discuss details of potential legislative action.”
When storms approach the state, state and federal officials routinely declare states of emergency, have state transportation crews treat icy roads, activate the National Guard, and provide temporary Medicaid flexibilities such as early prescription refills.
Duke Energy says its emergency response strategy doesn’t only consist of sending crews out after a storm to repair downed lines. “We have a very robust multi-year grid improvement strategy that we’ve worked with our regulators to establish that helps us to strengthen the grid, to make it more resistant to outages from severe weather,” Jeff Brooks, a Duke Energy spokesman, said in an interview Monday.
The company plans its spending five years out.
“Roughly half of what we’re spending in our current five-year plan is for modernizing and improving the electric grid. And that would include reliability and resiliency improvements,” Brooks said.
Money spent on improving the state’s power grid might simply be passed onto customers in the form of higher power bills. Texas, unlike North Carolina, requires utilities to weatherize generation, transmission and natural gas facilities for extreme weather. And Texans also have higher power bills.
According to the website Choose Energy, which analyzes electricity costs nationwide, Texans pay more for their power than North Carolinians do, although both states are below the national average.
Other states have taken different approaches to power-outage worries. Virginia has a state program — the Emergency Shelter Upgrade Assistance Grant Fund — that provides matching funds to localities to install or repair backup energy generation infrastructure at emergency shelters.
Brooks said Duke Energy takes it upon itself to make sure it is cost effective for customers. Duke has what it calls self-healing technology across the state that can help automatically detect power outages and reroute power to restore service faster, Brooks added.
The energy giant has also buried some of its power lines, another strategy that comes with added expense but has been proven to lessen power outages.
These are voluntary measures since North Carolina doesn’t require utilities to do the work.
Substation vulnerabilities
Extreme weather isn’t the only risk to power infrastructure. Lawmakers considered new measures after a December 2022 incident in which Duke Energy substations in Moore County were shot at, knocking out power for thousands for several days and contributing to at least one death, according to authorities.
The state legislature responded by raising criminal penalties for damaging utility equipment. But lawmakers did nothing to take proactive measures to prevent similar attacks in the future. A bipartisan bill that would have required Duke to put in place security upgrades at its facilities — potentially cameras, fences, sensors or guards — wasn’t allowed up for a vote at the state legislature, where Duke spends substantial amounts of money on lobbying and campaign contributions.
“Our objective was appreciating people wanting to help and trying to find good solutions, but making sure that we could find the right solution that met our unique needs as a utility,” Brooks said.
Technologies and Costs
Duke Energy has deployed self-healing grid technology in pilot areas to automatically reroute electricity around outages. The technology prevented millions of hours of power outages for people and businesses statewide in 2025, Duke told WRAL last week.
Burying power lines is another option, but Duke says it’s expensive and can take longer to repair. Burying lines might also be difficult in places with rocky terrain or other difficult soil or topography.
Do Proactive Measures Make Sense?
Duke energy said mandates could raise costs for customers, and that current technology and emergency response may suffice.
The current measures appeared to be enough for this weekend’s storm. At its height Sunday, 31,000 utility customers across the state lost power, which is a small percentage of the state’s 11 million residents and thousands of businesses.
Duke Energy says it is evaluating more advanced grid resilience technologies. The company is also a financial backer of a public-private push to boost university research, called NC Innovation, whose projects include research from UNC-Charlotte on improving power grid efficiency.
But without legal requirements, large-scale infrastructure investments are left to the utility’s discretion.
Stein said last week, ahead of the storm, that he was confident in Duke’s ability to respond quickly to power outages.
“They are taking this storm very seriously, and they are bringing in assets from other states that are not as threatened as North Carolina is,” Stein said.
Coming off two impressive wins over VCU and East Carolina in the Chapel Hill Regional, the North Carolina Tar Heels head into Sunday’s matchup against Tennessee with significant momentum.
With all that being said, here is who will start on the mound for the Tar Heels on Sunday, with a lineup projection against the Volunteers in the third and final game of the regional round of the tournament.
Starting Pitcher Against Tennessee
Earlier this week, head coach Scott Forbes announced Ryan Lynch and Jason DeCaro would serve as the starters for the Tar Heels’ opening two games in the Chapel Hill Regional. With Caden Glauber contributing 4.1 innings on Saturday, compiling eight strikeouts while giving up three hits and two runs, Glauber could be less likely to start. However, I expect the true freshman to sprinkle in a few innings on Sunday against Tennessee.
- “Most of the time it becomes, ‘Okay, what do we feel like is the better matchup’ even though we feel like they match up well against anybody, and they [aren’t going to] be scared of anybody,” Forbes said. “That’s why we decided to go Lynch game one against VCU, and DeCaro will go game two against East Carolina or Tennessee.”
- “I feel like we have multiple aces,” Forbes said. “I feel like Jason DeCaro and Ryan Lynch are both Friday night guys.”
Projected Starting Lineup
Through the first two games of the regional round of the tournament, the Tar Heels are averaging 7.5 runs and 11 hits per outing. Based on what Forbes has rolled out in the opening games against VCU and East Carolina, I expect North Carolina’s batting lineup to look very similar, if not exactly the same.
While the Tar Heels coasted to victory over VCU and faced no adversity, jumping out to a 3-0 lead after the first inning en route to an 8-0 win. That was not the case on Saturday night, as the start of the game was a reciprocated experience for North Carolina, which fell behind 3-0 heading into the fourth inning.
“This team’s mature, they know we’ve played good teams all year, good midweek teams, and I’ve told them it’s about how we play, it’s not about the opponent,” Forbes said. “All of our focus has been on us, number one.”
With all that said, the Tar Heels’ projected batting lineup, in order, is Jake Schaffner, Gavin Gallaher, Owen Hull, Macon Winslow, Cooper Nicholson, Tyler Howe, Colin Hynek, Erik Paulsen, and Rom Kellis V.
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The NC Lottery offers several draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at Saturday, May 30, 2026 results for each game:
Winning Powerball numbers from May 30 drawing
01-27-35-44-52, Powerball: 12, Power Play: 2
Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 3 numbers from May 30 drawing
Day: 4-3-5, Fireball: 5
Evening: 8-3-5, Fireball: 6
Check Pick 3 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 4 numbers from May 30 drawing
Day: 6-6-7-3, Fireball: 6
Evening: 4-1-0-7, Fireball: 3
Check Pick 4 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Cash 5 numbers from May 30 drawing
04-05-07-31-39
Check Cash 5 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Double Play numbers from May 30 drawing
02-05-28-37-42
Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from May 30 drawing
05-14-22-28-30, Bonus: 01
Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your lottery prize
All North Carolina Lottery retailers will redeem prizes up to $599.
For prizes over $599, winners can submit winning tickets through the mail or in person at North Carolina Lottery Offices. By mail, send a prize claim form, your signed lottery ticket, copies of a government-issued photo ID and social security card to: North Carolina Education Lottery, P.O. Box 41606, Raleigh, NC 27629. Prize claims less than $600 do not require copies of photo ID or a social security card.
To submit in person, sign the back of your ticket, fill out a prize claim form and deliver the form, along with your signed lottery ticket and government-issued photo ID and social security card to any of these locations:
- Asheville Regional Office & Claim Center: 16-G Regent Park Blvd., Asheville, NC 28806, 877-625-6886 press #1. Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. This office can cash prizes up to $99,999.
- Greensboro Regional Office & Claim Center: 20A Oak Branch Drive, Greensboro, NC 27407, 877-625-6886 press #2. Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. This office can cash prizes up to $99,999.
- Charlotte Regional Office & Claim Center: 5029-A West W. T. Harris Blvd., Charlotte, NC 28269-1861, 877-625-6886 press #3. Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. This office can cash prizes up to $99,999.
- NC Lottery Headquarters: Raleigh Claim Center & Regional Office, 2728 Capital Blvd., Suite 144, Raleigh, NC 27604, 877-625-6886 press #4. Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. This office can cash prizes of any amount.
- Greenville Regional Office & Claim Center: 2790 Dickinson Avenue, Suite A, Greenville, NC 27834, 877-625-6886 press #5. Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. This office can cash prizes up to $99,999.
- Wilmington Regional Office & Claim Center: 123 North Cardinal Drive Extension, Suite 140, Wilmington, NC 28405, 877-625-6886 press #6. Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. This office can cash prizes up to $99,999.
Check previous winning numbers and payouts at https://nclottery.com/.
When are the North Carolina Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 10:59 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 11 p.m. Tuesday and Friday.
- Lucky for Life: 10:38 p.m. daily.
- Pick 3, 4: 3:00 p.m. and 11:22 p.m. daily.
- Cash 5: 11:22 p.m. daily.
- Millionaire for Life: 11:15 p.m. daily.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Carolina Connect editor. You can send feedback using this form.
North Carolina has landed what is seemingly the final major piece of its frontcourt for the 2026-27 season, multiple sources have confirmed. Alexandros Samodurov announced his commitment to the Tar Heels on Saturday by way of Jonathan Givony of Draft Express.
The 6-foot-11 Greek native will bring international experience and an advanced skillset to a UNC program that was still looking to add a starting-worthy big man to its rotation. He’ll join 18-year-old 7-footer Sayon Keita, who committed to UNC a month ago, to man most of the minutes in the middle.
Now 21 years old, Samodurov plays for Panathinaikos in Greece’s top pro league, and also in EuroLeague. This is the same professional club as fellow Greece national team standout and UNC transfer commitment Neoklis Avdalas.
Samodurov earned All-Star honors with the Greece U20 National Team last summer, averaging 17.6 points, 5.7 rebounds, 1.4 blocks at the FIBA U20 Eurobasket. He also averaged 4.9 points and 4.6 rebounds playing for the Greece Senior National Team last year.
>>> Expert Analysis: Samodurov Addition All About Stretch Big Skill Set for UNC
“The Panathinaikos forward has always been an intriguing prospect with his combination of elite size, ball-handling ability and flashes of passing, shooting and defensive playmaking,” said a FIBA report from the Eurobasket event.
Samodurov declared for the NBA Draft but the league announced on May 28 that he had withdrawn his name. He was ranked the No. 41 draft prospect in The Athletic’s Mock Draft and is No. 72 on ESPN’s Big Board.
New coach Michael Malone has been tasked over the past two months with overhauling the roster. Samodurov marks the seventh program acquisition, joining two previously committed high schoolers, and three returning players to form the 2026-27 roster.
Whether Samodurov or Keita start at center remains to be seen, but the other members of the starting lineup when UNC’s season opens in six months on Nov. 2 are expected to be Utah transfer Terrence Brown, NC State transfer Matt Able, Virginia Tech transfer Avdalas and returning forward Jarin Stevenson.
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