State regulators accepted Duke Energy’s plan to reduce carbon pollution and meet growing energy demand. But a controversial decision to approve Duke’s request to delay compliance with a key carbon pollution target drew criticism from environmental groups.
State law mandates that Duke Energy must update its plan to reach carbon neutrality every two years. The same law set a target for the utility to reduce its emissions to 70% of 2005 levels by 2030. Duke and the state consumer advocacy group delayed compliance with a key milestone toward that goal to at least 2034.
Attorney General Josh Stein issued a brief in September asserting state regulators could not accept Duke’s plan without sufficient evidence that the interim target was unachievable.
“They're simply expanding fossil fuels as hard as they can,” said Jim Warren, executive director of energy watchdog NC WARN. “Totally backward from what the science community globally is calling for, insisting, especially regarding methane.”
Duke Energy plans to retire all coal generators by 2036. The utility will add about 3,620 megawatts of new natural gas generation during the next seven years. That includes the two new gas generators at the Marshall Steam Station on Lake Norman.
The Southern Environmental Law Center said in a written statement to WFAE that it was glad to see fewer large gas plants approved by state regulators than Duke initially asked for. Still, the environmental law firm said state regulators could have asked the utility to do more to reduce carbon pollution on schedule.
“We know from the experience of other states, like Texas, that much more solar, wind, and battery storage can be connected to the grid than Duke says is possible,” wrote SELC attorney David Neal. “They have done it there. We can do it here.”
The law firm said the state couldn't afford any new carbon-emitting power plants even as the utility added new clean energy sources to the grid.
The order approved the addition of over 6,000 megawatts of renewable energy generation over the next decade, including solar, hydro and onshore wind. It also includes plans to expand Duke’s residential solar plus battery storage pilot program to include businesses.
“Seeing an option to help reduce the upfront cost of solar and storage for commercial customers is exactly the right move that we want to be seeing moving forward,” said Matt Abele, executive director of the North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association.
NC SEA had also pushed the commission to authorize Duke to begin early development on offshore wind farms. Instead, state regulators only authorized Duke to gather more information about the cost and feasibility of offshore wind along North Carolina’s coast.
“We have a lot of the information that we already need, given the fact that our neighbors to our north and Virginia are already putting turbines in the water,” Abele said.
Duke released a statement calling the state regulators' decision to accept its July settlement with the state consumer advocacy group “constructive.”
The Southern Environmental Law Center is a WFAE sponsor.
