Groups press for massive solar project with Duke Energy plant

Two environmental groups say Duke Energy Carolinas should be required to build a solar farm with a capacity as large as 375 megawatts as part of its proposed 750-megawatt natural gas plant in South Carolina.

In filings with S.C. regulators, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy and the Coastal Conservation League also argue that Duke Energy Carolinas should be allowed to share capacity with Duke Energy Progress, delaying the need for the plant in Anderson County.

But Duke says a solar project that large is simply unrealistic. Responding to the groups, Janice Hager, Duke's vice president of resource planning, notes there is no commercial solar project of that size in the nation.

And she says building such a project would require 2,625 acres, compared with 20 acres for the proposed Lee Combined Cycle Plant.

Hager also disputes a highly technical argument the groups make that Duke has overestimated how much reserve power the company needs, leading it to want to build Lee before it is necessary.

The dispute will be among the issues aired at a hearing the S.C. Public Service Commission will hold on the project Jan. 7.