Duke Carbon Reduction Plans Skirt State Law

by Christian Roselund

The United States’ largest electricity provider has presented a series of plans to reduce the carbon emissions in the generation portfolio of its utilities in North and South Carolina, in response to state law in North Carolina. Duke Energy’s Carolinas Power Plan is a response to North Carolina’s HB 951, which passed last summer and requires utilities to reduce emissions 70% by 2030 on the way to net zero by 2050.

The plans envision near-term buildouts of 5.4 – 6.8 gigawatts of solar, 1.7 – 2.2 gigawatts of battery storage, 2 – 2.8 gigawatts of offshore and onshore wind, 1.7 gigawatts of new pumped hydro storage, and 600 megawatts of nuclear power, as well as 3.2 – 3.5 gigawatts of new gas plants. Notably, the plans do not fully comply with the mandate; of the four plans only one has a 2030 date for 70% decarbonization; the others look at 2032 or 2034.

“You may be wondering, how does building a new gas plant comply with a net zero carbon plan? Friends, this is the North Carolina carbon plan. The gas plant(s) will be built in South Carolina.” – Simon Mahan, SREA

To meet the 2050 net zero target, Duke plans to add more nuclear power, including small modular reactors. The utility plans to retire its last coal unit in the Carolinas by 2035. Clean energy advocates have criticized the plan on the basis of the new gas plants and a coalition of four advocates plan to file an alternative plan with North Carolina regulators in July. Simon Mahan of the Southern Renewable Energy Association (SREA) has stated that Duke is skirting its responsibility to decarbonize its generation in North Carolina by building the gas plants in South Carolina, where there is no such mandate.

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Source: Carolinas Carbon Plan (Duke Energy)

News coverage: Duke Energy proposes new solar, wind and nuclear, but environmentalists decry reliance on gas (UtilityDive)