Melissa Williams, melissa.williams@sierraclub.org
RALEIGH, N.C.—North Carolina regulators on Tuesday issued their order on Duke Energy’s 2018 long term energy plans, directing the utility to analyze whether continuing to operate its aging, coal-burning power plants is the least cost alternative option when compared on a level playing field with all available alternative resources, like solar, battery storage and energy efficiency. The N.C. Utilities Commission also directed Duke to include the full costs for disposal of coal ash in making any comparison with the costs of alternative resources.
Commissioners further required Duke to model what it would take to meet the targets in Gov. Roy Cooper’s Executive Order 80, which affirms North Carolina’s commitment to fighting the climate crisis by reducing statewide greenhouse gas emissions to 40 percent below 2005 levels by 2025.
Although commissioners found parts of Duke's planning analyses and justifications flawed—including the underlying assumptions upon which the plans are based; the sufficiency or adequacy of the models employed; or the resource needs identified and scheduled beyond 2020—they’ve given the company until next September to address the deficiencies, and accepted Duke's 2018 long term energy plans as adequate for planning purposes for its subsidiaries Duke Energy Carolinas and Duke Energy Progress.
In response, Dave Rogers, Southeast deputy regional campaign director for the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign, issued the following statement:
“We’re glad the N.C. Utilities Commission didn’t rubber-stamp Duke’s plans and instead ordered a full analysis of how their coal-heavy business-as-usual model stacks up against renewable energy, energy efficiency and storage. It’s way past time for Duke to get serious about resource planning that isn’t centered on several more decades of burning dirty, climate disrupting fossil fuels.
“We look forward to continuing to engage in this process, and we’ll keep pushing Duke to make the right choices for our air and water, and for the customers who have been forced to bear the cost of propping up their unnecessary, polluting coal plants. We’re confident a thorough analysis will show what we already know: cheap, clean resources like solar, paired with robust investments in energy efficiency and battery storage, will beat out the dirty fuels of the past every time.”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3.5 million members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.