Dan McCready, the Democratic congressional candidate in North Carolina, sat on the board of a nonprofit organization that lobbied for policies that benefited his solar energy business while allowing electric companies to raise consumer rates to offset state clean energy mandates.

Critics of the North Carolina renewable energy law claim the mandate could cost consumers up to $149 million per year in extra fees, while supporters of the law say it has created clean energy jobs and the actual consumer impact of the policy has been minimal so far.