CHAPEL HILL, N.C.— Monopoly utility Duke Energy’s proposed resource plan is risky, lacks diversity of energy sources, and does not prioritize affordability for North Carolinians, experts shared in testimony filed by the Southern Environmental Law Center at the North Carolina Utilities Commission on behalf of clean energy advocates.
“It’s not too late for Duke to develop a less risky, cleaner, and more affordable path that will lead to significant cost savings and enhanced reliability for customers,” said Nick Jimenez, senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center. “This is the wrong time for Duke to go all-in on new gas resources.”
SELC filed the testimony on behalf of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, Vote Solar, and Sierra Club at the Commission in Duke’s Carbon Plan and Integrated Resource Plan docket.
Duke’s proposed plan includes an overreliance on polluting gas resources that expose their captive ratepayers to increasingly volatile and expensive methane gas prices while increasing Duke’s profits, which reached nearly $5 billion last year. North Carolinians have recently experienced a spike in gas prices during an unusually cold winter and can expect higher prices from the global restriction of liquified gas production and shipment following the U.S. war with Iran.
“The solar resources already on Duke’s system have helped save customers millions of dollars in fuel costs that they would have otherwise been asked to pay in the face of recent price spikes,” said Jake Duncan, Southeast Senior Regulatory Director at Vote Solar. “We’ve seen more families and businesses turn to solar to relieve the weight of rising energy costs, and it’s time that Duke does too. By recognizing the benefits of solar and other clean energy resources, they can help North Carolina meet its goals of decarbonizing the grid and help realize an affordable, clean energy future for all.”
Experts noted that relying more heavily on solar, battery storage, wind, energy efficiency, load-flexibility, and customer-sited solar and batteries better positions North Carolina customers for a reliable, affordable energy system under an array of likely future conditions. This alternative portfolio would save customers anywhere from $4.5 to nearly $8 billion dollars depending on future gas costs, gas plant costs, and the scale of future load growth over the timeframe of Duke’s preferred plan. A plan that imports Midwest wind resources would save customers an additional $1 billion and provide an even more diverse array of resources to meet future demand.
Experts testified that Duke missed opportunities over the last several years under plans previously put forward by Duke or approved by the utilities commission to procure a more diverse array of clean energy resources that would have saved customers billions of dollars in lost federal tax credits and other cost savings. Experts also noted that Duke should pursue opportunities to reduce reliance on increasingly expensive and operationally risky coal plants by co-locating clean resources, especially battery storage, as it transitions to a modern, more flexible grid.
“North Carolinians continue to suffer the impacts of harsh winters, hotter summers and extreme weather, and if Duke keeps doing the same-old it means energy bills are going to continue to go up,” said Maggie Shober, Research Director for the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. “Turning to cleaner, cost-effective resources and using our existing grid more efficiently will provide long-term value as we face an uncertain future and rapidly changing environment.”
Experts also testified that Duke’s current resources plans fail to account for the promised savings that would come from its pending application to combine the two Duke utilities—Progress and Carolinas—into a single operating utility in the Carolinas. Significant savings from its merger would come from avoiding investments in an expensive gas-fired peaker plant and other potentially redundant resources that threaten to impose unnecessary costs on already struggling customers.
“Duke has prioritized fossil fuels over clean energy resources and missed chances to reduce costs and protect customers from volatile fuel prices,” said Mikaela Curry, Campaign Manager for the Sierra Club. “Now is the time for affordable, proven clean energy resources like solar and battery storage that are better for our health, our wallets and our environment.”
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Media contacts: Rachel Chu, SELC, 843-720-5270, rchu@selc.org; Amy Rawe, SACE, 865-235-1448, amyr@cleanenergy.org
About Southern Environmental Law Center
The Southern Environmental Law Center is one of the nation’s most powerful defenders of the environment, rooted in the South. With a long track record, SELC takes on the toughest environmental challenges in court, in government, and in our communities to protect our region’s air, water, climate, wildlife, lands, and people. Nonprofit and nonpartisan, the organization has a staff of 250, including more than 160 legal and policy experts and advocates, and is headquartered in Charlottesville, VA, with offices in Asheville, Atlanta, Birmingham, Chapel Hill, Charleston, Nashville, Richmond, and Washington, DC. Learn more at selc.org
About the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy
Since 1985, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy has worked to promote responsible and equitable energy choices to ensure clean, safe and healthy communities throughout the Southeast. Learn more at cleanenergy.org.
