Duke Energy’s 2020 climate plan falls short on reducing dangerous fossil fuels, increasing clean energy

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Duke Energy today released its 2020 Climate Report, outlining plans to reduce emissions from its power plants as part of its goal to reduce system-wide carbon emissions by at least 50 percent by 2030 and to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.  

While the report shows that Duke, the largest investor-owned electric utility in the country, is aware of the need to increase the use of renewable energy, the utility is falling short on addressing its role in the climate crisis: Duke plans to still have 9 gigawatts of dirty coal online in 2030; to expand its fracked gas buildout through 2030, including the over-budget, unnecessary Atlantic Coast Pipeline; and to make only minimal commitments to energy efficiency and demand side management programs, which would immediately lower costs for families and businesses.

In response, Dave Rogers, Southeast deputy regional campaign director for the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign, issued the following statement:

"While Duke's commitment to increase its renewable capacity is a step in the right direction, the plan still moves too slowly in response to the climate crisis. If Duke accelerated their plans to move away from dirty coal and stopped burning fracked gas, they could clean up their pollution and save customers money at the same time.

"But Duke still plans to operate roughly 9 gigawatts of coal in 2030, most of which is uneconomic right now. And while Duke claims it can’t rely more on storage because the technology isn’t yet economically feasible, it nevertheless expects to fill 12% of future capacity needs with other technologies that it doesn’t consider economically feasible, or even available, today.

"Duke could, and should, retire its entire coal fleet in the next 10 years, invest more deeply in energy efficiency and other demand response programs, and avoid an unnecessary massive gas expansion."