On Energy Transition, Duke Gets an 'F'

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Sierra Club today released a groundbreaking report and research tool that grades utilities based on their plans to retire coal plants, stop building new gas plants, and invest in clean energy, allowing the public to judge each utility’s climate progress and how it compares to what science demands. 

The report, “The Dirty Truth About Utility Climate Pledges,” finds that many of the utilities that made “carbon neutral” pledges received a failing grade because they’re not retiring their coal and gas plants fast enough to avoid the worst impacts of the climate crisis.

Duke Energy Indiana, which serves more than 850,000 customers statewide, earns an F in the report for the huge conflict between its claims of embracing clean energy while still planning to build new gas plants and refusing to stop burning coal. Duke’s stated goal to have net-zero emissions is 30 years in the future, but this next decade is the one that really matters if we’re to have any hope of avoiding the most damaging climate change scenarios. 

“This report bears out what we’ve long suspected of utility executives who use ‘carbon pledges’ to mollify demands for climate action: They are much more talk than actual action,” said Mary Anne Hitt, national director of campaigns at the Sierra Club. “The infuriating truth is that many utilities are not only protecting their coal plants from retirement, but are also proactively planning to build out carbon intensive gas plants—ignoring climate science, delaying their embrace of renewables, and pushing us further into the abyss. This report and utility tracker website gives customers the transparency they need to hold their utilities accountable now and in the future.”

Duke Energy Indiana’s F grade shows that the Hoosier State is a stark contrast between utilities that are moving toward a clean energy future at the pace the science demands and utilities that are stuck in the fossil fuel past. 

Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO) earns an A for plans to retire its coal plants by 2028 and replace them with clean energy without building any new gas. However, the utility still has substantial environmental justice issues to rectify. 

Then there are Vectren, Indiana Michigan Power, and Indianapolis Power & Light receiving B, C, and D grades respectively. Each of these utilities needs to make further commitments to retire existing coal plants and build clean energy instead of gas.

“As Indiana’s largest investor-owned utility, Duke Energy should be leading the way toward a clean energy future, not dragging its feet,” said Wendy Bredhold, senior campaign representative for the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign in Indiana. “In their current energy planning process, Duke can choose to phase out coal, build affordable, equitable clean energy and present an A-grade plan that Duke and its customers can be proud of.”

“The consequences of allowing utilities to continue to delay the transition to clean energy will be particularly disastrous for low-income communities and communities of color,” Hitt added. “These communities already bear the worst burdens of fossil fuel pollution, and as the consequences for sea level rise, extreme weather, and general instability increase, they’ll be put in increasingly worse circumstances. Our hope is that the public and government officials will use this data to help these communities demand accountability from the utilities that are standing in the way of real climate justice and technological progress.”