Contact: Melissa Williams, melissa.williams@sierraclub.org
WASHINGTON, D.C.— Despite public claims that Duke Energy is taking bold action to address the climate crisis, it remains one of the country’s biggest and dirtiest companies, with plans to build out more methane-spewing gas than any other U.S. utility, according to a wide-ranging analysis by the Sierra Club.
“The Dirty Truth About Utility Climate Pledges” has been updated by Sierra Club experts for 2022. The report grades utilities based on their plans to retire coal plants, stop building new gas plants, and invest in clean energy, while also allowing the public to judge each utility’s climate progress and how it compares to what science demands.
“The Dirty Truth Report proves what people around the country are feeling as they struggle with grid reliability crises, blackouts, energy price spikes, and extreme weather events caused in large part by utilities’ stubborn reliance on expensive and unreliable fossil fuels,” Sierra Club Senior Director of Energy Campaigns Holly Bender said. “Utilities aren’t doing nearly enough to address climate change and ensure a liveable future for our children, despite their attempts at persuading folks otherwise by greenwashing and sowing climate denial.”
Duke Energy is a prime example. While noting that “our country is at a critical point in addressing the impact of climate change,” Duke has firmly committed to retire just 18% of its coal generation by 2030 and intends to build more than 5,400 MW of new gas by 2030.
The company serves 8.2 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio.* The five Duke Energy subsidiaries included in the report generated 125 million MWh of electricity from coal and gas in 2021, a minor reduction from the 131 million MWh of electricity they generated from coal and gas in 2019.
Combined, these utilities received an “F” in our previous report, and have seen little improvement since. All of Duke’s subsidiaries get an “F” in our update, while Duke Energy Indiana squeaks by with a “D.”
Duke’s subsidiaries are planning to add 26 million MWh of clean energy between 2022 and 2030, compared to 17 million MWh of clean energy planned between 2020 and 2030 at the time of the last report. While Duke is planning to build some solar capacity, the size and pace of its commitment is inadequate, especially for a company with its resources.
Given its weak coal-retirement commitments and its supersized planned gas buildout over this next decade, Duke’s plans remain entirely incompatible with limiting warming to 1.5°C.
And even as the company plans to add more gas, Duke is asking for exorbitant rate increases on customers' bills across its territories, consistently citing high gas prices and the volatility of the market as the reason. Duke has nonetheless remained committed to this massive gas buildout since our last report, instead of shifting its focus in a meaningful way to a much larger clean energy buildout that would benefit customers and the climate.
“Across every state where Duke operates, communities and families continue to bear the costs of Duke’s refusal to invest in clean resources at the scale we need to address the climate crisis and protect public health,” said Mikaela Curry, senior representative for the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign in the Carolinas.
“In Duke’s home state of North Carolina this year, we’ve seen Duke manipulate calculations and modeling to create false justifications for delaying coal retirements, proposing more new gas than any other utility in the country, and continuing to force customers to cover rising fuel costs — all of which disproportionately harm vulnerable and marginalized communities, including children, people living on low incomes and communities of color.
“It’s past time for Duke to do better: retire coal, cancel new gas, build out wind and solar. We don’t have time to spare.”
* Duke Energy Ohio is not included in the report as its directly owned generation is very small in comparison to its annual retail sales.
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of 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.