This paper begins with a review of the current knowledge of the interface and near-interface defects in nitrided oxides on SiC. Owing to the improvements of SiC-SiO2 interface by nitridation, nonequilibrium charge at the surface of SiC can be retained for very long periods of time. It is shown in the paper that corrections in the interpretation of the Shockley-Read-Hall generation model and constants are necessary to properly account for the nonequilibrium effects observed experimentally with the nitrided SiC-SiO2 interfaces. Finally, the most promising applications of SiC as the unique wide-energy-gap material with a device-quality gate dielectric are critically discussed.