Duke customers pack public hearing to demand a plan for clean, renewable energy

RALEIGH, N.C. — A standing-room-only crowd of Duke Energy customers packed the N.C. Utilities Commission chambers tonight to demand a long-term energy plan from the utility that prioritizes safe, clean renewables over dirty, dangerous fossil fuels.

Tonight was the only in-person opportunity for the public to weigh in on the plans, which are meant to guide Duke, the country’s largest electric utility, in identifying resources to meet the energy needs of its customers over the next 15 years.

Duke filed long-term energy plans with the NCUC in September for its subsidiaries Duke Energy Carolinas and Duke Energy Progress. The current plans include a pledge to go coal-free, but not until 2048—even though burning coal for another 30 years means more air and water pollution and higher electric bills when compared to plans built on energy efficiency and safe, clean energy.

Duke also plans also double down on fracked gas and proposes construction of thousands of additional megawatts of gas-fired generation over the next several years.

But the climate-damaging impacts from methane and carbon dioxide emitted by extracting, transporting and burning fossil fuels clearly show the urgent need for a swift transition away from coal, oil and gas, and toward safe, abundant resources like wind and solar.

Climate change makes storms stronger, more frequent and more deadly. Last fall, Hurricane Florence had devastating impacts in North and South Carolina, billions of dollars in damage. Communities were evacuated as riverbanks overflowed, and waste sites containing toxic coal ash breached and released pollution into storm waters, among many other destructive impacts that still linger.

In response, Dave Rogers, representative for the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign in the Carolinas, issued the following statement:

“Duke can do a lot better by its customers and its own bottom line by maximizing clean, renewable energy resources that would not only protect the environment, but also shield families and businesses from the volatile fossil fuels market.

“In fact, given the uneconomic nature of coal and uncertain future of fracked gas, state regulators should require Duke to do a transparent economic analysis of its coal fleet, and submit an actual least-cost plan that prioritizes energy efficiency, demand response and clean sources like wind and solar.

“Duke should take full advantage of the region’s clean energy potential instead of clinging to coal for 30 more years and building out dirty, unnecessary gas plants that make customers pay more, cause further climate disruption, and put our communities at risk.”