Davie County identified as possible site of future Duke Energy plant

Davie County identified as possible site of future Duke Energy plant

Published 5:12 pm Thursday, March 26, 2026

ROWAN COUNTY — Duke Energy is in the midst of a plan to construct five new combined cycle (CC) natural gas plants in the Carolinas, with two already approved for Person County and another application in Anderson County, South Carolina under review.

Now, they're evaluating potential sites for the final two plants, and both Davidson and Davie counties represent options, as Duke owns thousands of acres in both counties, with the Davie side containing Perkins Game Land.

Bill Norton, spokesperson for Duke Energy, said that the sites were possibilities because of preexisting infrastructure nearby.

"Both parcels were acquired decades ago for power plant generation once the Triad region's growth required new generation. The Davidson is about 1,600 acres and Davie is just over 1,600 acres, opposite of each other along the Yadkin," said Norton. "There is a natural gas pipeline that runs through the Davidson parcel, while just north of the Davie tract there are transmission lines.

"Anytime that we can use land that we acquired decades ago at low cost, as well as existing infrastructure in terms of fuel or or transmission, that helps reduce costs for customers."

The Davie County property that Duke already owns is located at 5194 N.C. Highway 801 S., Advance. The Davidson County property is located directly across the river at 3714 Giles Road, Lexington.

The company filed a transmission interconnection cluster study recently that will become public on Monday, which the company said will show similar requirements for either property. Because of that, Norton said that the company could look to construct one plant on both properties or two on one property if the area is selected.

"We haven't made a decision yet on one versus the other. We could ultimately do one in each. We could ultimately do both in one (property), kind of as we did in Person County. That might prove more cost efficient, but we're still evaluating that," said Norton.

The plan to construct five plants comes as a result of North Carolina's growth, said Norton, pointing to the fact that North Carolina has been ranked No. 1 for business growth and stands as the third-fastest growing state in population.

The plant itself would be similar to the Buck combined cycle plant in northern Rowan County, taking up approximately 100 acres total for both of the plants across the 3,200 acres Duke owns. Each would put out 1,400 megawatts, or enough to power more than a million homes. Norton said that it would take over 40,000 acres of solar panels to generate the same amount of electricity.

When the Davidson County side of the cluster study became public, environmental activists and residents raised concerns, chief among them the impact a new plant would have on the local environment.

"The power plant is a giant industrial facility. It has significant emissions," Shelley Robbins, senior decarbonization manager with the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, told WFMY News. "It completely changes the landscape in western Davidson County from this agricultural economy to a massive industrial facility."

However, Norton emphasized that the plants would use less than five percent of the available acreage, meaning that there would "be ample buffer" between the plant and any neighbors. He also stressed that the plans and construction were subject to testing by the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality, N.C. Utilities Commission and other state and federal agencies.

"If we move forward, just as we did in Person County, we would use the best available technology to limit air emissions," said Norton. "After a thorough evaluation of the Person County CC, the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality's Division of Air Quality determined that the technology used in those Person County CCs will keep plant neighbors and the surrounding environment safe.

"Keep in mind that's looking at two combined cycle plants and a 60-year-old coal plant all operating at once. Comparatively, the emissions in Davidson or Davie will be far less."

Another concern raised was the water quality in the Yadkin River, which is used for drinking water as well as being a natural environment for aquatic life.

"Water supply would come from the adjoining Yadkin River, but highly efficient CCs need far less water than coal plants need in the past, really about 15% on average to generate steam, and there is no possibility of coal ash constituents entering the river (or groundwater) because we're not producing coal ash at that location. In fact, there are no pollutants discharged into the Yadkin at all from a CC, only slightly warmer water and that would be under very strict parameters designed by state regulators to keep the Yadkin healthy," said Norton.

He also emphasized that any planned construction would come with public hearings and community outreach, and the company has already begun to reach out to nearby property owners and county officials. The company would be required to hold at least two public hearings locally for the Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity and air permit application. The property would also need to be rezoned.

The company anticipates making a decision late this year or early next year, at which point Norton said they would increase their public outreach, including hosting open houses, to receive feedback and concerns.

The new plant would be a 2-and-1 plant, which Buck Plant Manager Brandon Sipe described as a facility that uses two natural gas turbines and one steam turbine. In simple terms, the two generators burn natural gas, turning their two turbines, while the final generator takes the heat exhaust gases from the burning and produces steam, rotating the third turbine.

Norton said that a similar facility in Davie County would employ 30 to 40 full-time workers as well as up to 1,200 temporary workers for the construction. He also pointed to the increased tax base, noting that the company was the fourth-highest taxpayer in Davie County currently at $699,932 annually.

"For perspective, we're the largest taxpayer in Rowan County at more than $5.1 million annually – primarily due to the presence of Buck," said Norton.

He said that he could not say for certain what the plant would cost, but that it would be a multi-billion dollar investment.

The company has also set up a web page at duke-energy.com/daviedavidson where anyone interested can look for preliminary information and ask questions.