North Carolina Utilities Commission Allows Duke to Disregard Climate Crisis
Recent Order Allows Duke to Fall Short on Carbon Reduction Commitment, Delay Coal Retirement and Build Multiple Methane Gas Plants
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 4, 2024
Raleigh, NC—The North Carolina Utilities Commission (NCUC) issued an order on Duke’s Energy 2023 Carbon Plan and Integrated Resource Plan (CPIRP) on Friday, November 1st. The CPIRP outlines different pathways for how Duke Energy, the state’s largest monopoly utility, could meet North Carolina’s energy needs and carbon reduction requirements over the next fifteen years.
The order from the NCUC approved the majority of Duke Energy’s proposed plan, in which the NCUC sided with Duke allowing them to miss its required 2030 70% carbon reduction goal.
“Meeting the 2030 carbon reduction goal is critical because consensus climate science shows that early emissions reductions decrease the risk of crossing irreversible climate tipping points,” said Jake Duncan, the Southeast Regulatory Director at Vote Solar. “This order fails to deploy clean energy alternatives, such as solar energy solutions.”
The NCUC approved Duke’s request to delay coal retirements allowing an additional 13 years of coal plant operation. They also gave initial approval for Duke to build two new large Combined Cycle methane gas plants and two smaller Combustion Turbine methane plants in addition to the three plants approved back in 2022. As a result, Duke will undertake one of the largest fossil fuel build-outs in the country over the next seven years
“The North Carolina Utilities Commission’s ruling allowing Duke to disregard the urgency of the current climate crisis by letting the for-profit monopoly utility miss the important milestone of 70% carbon reduction by 2030, is unacceptable,” said Duncan. “While the order does call for important new utility-scale solar, batteries and wind resources – by allowing Duke to delay coal retirement and build four new methane gas plants the NCUC missed a pivotal opportunity to move away from a fossil fuel centered energy system to a resilient and distributed clean energy future that prioritizes people over profits.”
The NCUC was created by the North Carolina General Assembly in 1941 to regulate privately owned utilities and ensure that private monopolies that provide public goods, like Duke Energy, deliver fair services to consumers. The NCUC regulates Duke Energy’s rates, investment decisions, and programs, playing a significant role in determining customer’s power bills and the state’s progress toward a clean energy future.
In addition to the Attorney General’s Office and the North Carolina Public Staff, who represent the public interest, twenty-two groups intervened in the CPIRP proceeding to weigh in on the proposal. The NCUC issued its order after holding a nearly two-week-long evidentiary hearing in which dozens of expert witnesses put forward actionable solutions to use more renewables and less fossil fuels.
While the NCUC did not respond to several intervenors’ analyses and recommendations to create more energy efficiency and virtual power plant options for residential customers, the order did include some small improvements on Duke’s proposed plan by requiring Duke to create a commercial solar and storage incentive program. The NCUC order also largely accepted Duke’s proposed renewables build-out, which includes 3.46 GW of new utility-scale solar, 1.1 GW of new batteries, and 1.2 GW of onshore wind. The order also approved Duke to spend $440 million to develop 600 MW of new advanced nuclear by 2035 and to study the potential of an additional 600 MW of new nuclear by 2036.
The CPIRP is a biennial process. The next CPRIP will be filed at the NCUC in September 2025 and will be reviewed throughout 2026.
About Vote Solar
Vote Solar is an energy justice non-profit working towards a 100% clean energy future by bringing solar to the mainstream. Founded in 2002, Vote Solar advocates for clean energy in legislative and regulatory arenas at the state level, where most decisions about electricity are made. Despite powerful opposition, we use a winning combination of deep policy expertise, coalition building, and public engagement to get the job done.