Watchdog group tells NC Governor to walk his talk, stop a leading climate polluter from expanding fossil fuels and suppressing renewables The North Carolina state motto is “To be, rather than to seem.” But Governor Roy Cooper continues to support a years-long pretense that Duke Energy is transitioning to a …
Coal & Coal Ash
Due to its size, Duke Energy is pivotal in the fight over coal vs climate. NC WARN and allies blocked the first of two Cliffside units Duke wanted to build – by proving it wasn’t necessary — and continued to struggle against the second unit. We have been protesting Duke Energy’s toxic coal ash spill into the Dan River, and working to ensure that North Carolina electricity customers do not foot the bill for the cleanup of the Dan River and Duke’s other coal ash sites.
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Why Duke Energy is spending $283M on retrofitting coal plants to burn natural gas — Charlotte Business Journal
Duke Energy Corp. is modifying its largest coal plants to burn natural gas for at least part of the power they produce in order to reduce coal use in the near term… Some clean-energy advocates worry the work will just extend the life of coal plants, allowing Duke to continue to recover costs for plants they say are no longer economical to operate.
Duke Energy Asks Regulators To Let it Charge Customers For Coal Ash Costs — WFAE
Rita Leadem with the environmental group NC Warn said many of the grid upgrades are unnecessary and that Duke should invest more in solar energy. “The smarter investment at this time would really be in the clean energy resources, backed up with battery storage, that would provide the resiliency that we need and really pave the way forward,” she said.
Renewables surpass coal in U.S. power generation throughout the month of April 2020 — IEEFA
In a first for any month, renewables generated more electricity than coal on every day in April, new data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) shows.
Duke Energy Grid Scheme and Stealth Construction of Gas-fired Power Units Challenged in Rate Case — News Release from NC WARN
A prominent energy engineer [Bill Powers] is contesting Duke Energy Carolinas’ request for billions of dollars in rate increases, showing in written testimony that the corporation is trying to pad investors’ pockets through pre-approval of grid projects that are either unneeded or could be better handled with solar-plus-storage investments.
Duke agrees to largest coal ash cleanup in US after years of fighting with environmentalists — Utility Dive
Duke Energy has agreed to excavate the majority of its remaining coal ash, announcing a settlement with environmental groups… Eight of the utility’s 14 coal plant sites were already slated for full excavation and closure, but the fate of the final six and their eleven ponds has been the subject of tension with environmentalists and others across Duke’s North Carolina territory.
Legislators Should Reject Duke Energy Deception and Annual Rate Hike Bill — News Release from EJNC
Senate Bill 559 is a bait & switch for the rejected $13 billion grid scheme and $10 billion in coal ash costs – further proof that it’s time to end the Duke monopoly.
It’s time to end the Duke Energy monopoly — NC WARN TV AD
NC WARN today began running a hard-hitting TV and online ad in all major media markets across North Carolina. The goal is to counter Duke executives’ pervasive deception by going straight to people across the political spectrum.
Duke Energy Profits from Execs’ Major Blunders — News Release from NC WARN
The NC Utilities Commission ordered this state’s Duke Energy Carolinas customers to pay $545 million for coal ash negligence and $347 million for the utility’s 13-year, failed effort to begin construction of twin nuclear reactors – a project now cancelled. Even more shameful is that the commission granted Duke a roughly 10 percent mark-up on the coal ash mistake by corporate execs, just as it did in the Duke Progress case earlier this year.
Duke Energy Profiting from Failure at Customers’ Expense – as Investments in Influence Money Pay Off Again — News Release from NC WARN
Shameful as it is that the NC Utilities Commission last month ordered customers to pay hundreds of millions for Duke Energy’s coal ash negligence in the Duke-Progress rate case…what’s even more shameful is that the Commission granted Duke a 10 percent mark-up on coal ash in the Progress case and that Duke’s seeking the same for coal ash and the nuclear boondoggle in the Carolinas case.