With the hiring of Bill Belichick as its football coach, UNC-Chapel Hill has entered a new economic reality for its athletics department.

Why it matters: But the steep financial outlay is not without its uncertainties — with UNC Athletics Director Bubba Cunningham even calling it a "risk" for the university.

• "We're investing more in football with the hope and ambition that the return is going to significantly outweigh the investment," he told the UNC-focused sports site Inside Carolina.

By the numbers: Belichick is set to make $10 million per year at UNC.

• Add $3.5 million in potential bonuses, $10 million to hire assistant coaches, $1 million for strength and conditioning staff, and $5.3 million for other support staff, and UNC-CH was declaring a new era for football.
• The team's $40 million budget will increase by at least $8 million, not including the $13 million that's been pledged to compensate football players or the $7 million the school budgeted in severance pay to outgoing coach Mack Brown and his staff over the next two years.

Zoom in: Even before it ramped up its football ambitions, the university had been shoring up its athletics budget by transferring millions of dollars from other institutional funds to support varsity sports.

• UNC provided $21.4 million to support athletics last year between direct payments, services, debt payments and rental fees, according to its annual financial report to the NCAA.
• Such transfer payments are the norm at many universities, but not in Chapel Hill. From 2011 to 2022, the university provided less than $2 million a year in services to athletics, but no direct payments or facilities payments.

The big picture: It's all part of UNC's attempt to evolve as a new economic model for college athletics has taken root. When a series of lawsuits are settled, as soon as next month, universities will begin paying athletes directly.

Go deeper with Axios and The Assembly's look at UNC athletics' big moment

Duke Energy would shed its goal of a 70% carbon reduction by 2030 under a new bill filed in the North Carolina General Assembly by powerful state Senate leader Phil Berger.

Why it matters: The proposal would roll back a portion of a major 2021 bill, which Republican state lawmakers and then-Gov. Roy Cooper compromised on, calling for Duke to achieve a 70% drop in its statewide carbon dioxide emissions from 2005 levels by 2030 and net-zero carbon dioxide emissions by the 2050.

Driving the news: The bill, however, would get rid of the 2030 target entirely — though it would leave the 2050 goal in place.

• The bill would also change how Duke can adjust electricity rates for users to cover the costs of building new power plants — that is if the state Utilities Commission approved the rate increase.
• Duke has put forward plans for several new power plants, including small module nuclear reactors in Stokes County and new natural gas plants.

Flashback: In November, the Utilities Commission gave Duke a waiver to miss the 2030 target, after the utility company submitted an energy resource plan that showed it could not hit the reduction target by then.

What they're saying: Berger said in a release that the bill was an effort to keep costs down for customers.

• "North Carolinians shouldn't be saddled with the increased costs created by arbitrary benchmarks," he said. "Instead, we should be focused on ensuring our energy sources will meet carbon reduction requirements while remaining reliable and affordable. That's exactly what this bill does."

The other side: "Other stakeholders have not been involved in drafting this bill, and it's going really fast," Democratic state Sen. Julie Mayfield said in a committee hearing yesterday. "It doesn't make sense to me why this is going really fast."

• They also warned that letting Duke more easily charge customers for construction costs could put ratepayers on the hook for failed projects — with several groups pointing to the example of a failed power plant in South Carolina that ratepayers still paid for.

Go deeper

✈️ GE Aerospace will invest $100 million into its facilities across North Carolina, including $16 million at its factory in Durham. (CBS17)

🏀 UNC won its opening game in the ACC Tournament against Notre Dame 76-56.

• UNC will play Wake Forest at 2:30pm today.
• Duke will play Georgia Tech at noon.

💻 For the firs time since 2016, IBM's annual report didn't mention the word diversity, as the tech firm drops its "DEI" hiring policies. (News & Observer 🔒)

🏫 Chapel Hill-Carrboro Schools have begun their search for a new superintendent. (INDY Week)

A full "Blood Moon" total lunar eclipse is set to grace the sky tonight.

🗓 When to watch: The eclipse will begin at 11:57pm on the East Coast.

• Totality — when the Moon is entirely within Earth's shadow — is set to occur starting at 2:26 a.m. on March 14 and last for 65 minutes, per NASA.

🌕 What to expect: During totality, the Moon will take on a deep red-orange hue, a phenomenon often referred to as a "Blood Moon."

• This coloration results from Earth's atmosphere filtering out shorter-wavelength blue light, leaving the longer-wavelength red and orange light to illuminate the Moon, according to the Adler Planetarium. ​
• "It's as if all the world's sunrises and sunsets are projected onto the Moon," writes NASA.

🔭 How to see it: No special equipment is required, but binoculars or a telescope will enhance the view. Find a dark spot, check the forecast, and look up.

Why it matters: The last total lunar eclipse was in November 2022, and after this one, the next one visible across the Americas won't be until March 2026.