Clean Path 2025 & Other Solar Work

Quick Facts:

• Clean Path 2025 will save NC billions of dollars Duke Energy plans to spend building unneeded power plants and other outdated infrastructure.

• Clean Path 2025 will create thousands of jobs while helping all customers save money.

• This strategy can replace all fossil fuel power — rapidly — with proven clean energy, battery storage and energy-saving programs.

• Check out NC WARN’s other solar work, including our 2022 Save NC Solar campaign to keep Duke Energy from undermining rooftop solar net metering, our 2014-16 Solarize programs, our Solar Freedom project at Faith Community Church in Greensboro, our Duke Hates Solar campaign and our work with the NC Solar Schools Initiative.

North Carolina Clean Path 2025: Achieving an Economical Clean Energy Future is a 2017 report prepared for NC WARN by engineer Bill Powers. It is a strategy for North Carolina’s electricity supply system showing that local solar combined with battery storage, energy efficiency, energy-balancing programs and on-bill financing can rapidly replace fossil fuels, save tens of billions of dollars and create thousands of jobs across the state.

NC WARN has matched the report with an Action Plan and local governments are working with residents across the state to implement the Clean Path 2025 plan, putting meat on the bones of their recent pledges to help slow the accelerating climate crisis. Contact us to join an Action Team or find out about resources for local governments.

Specifically, NC Clean Path 2025 will:

• Reduce power generated by coal- and natural gas-fired plants 57 percent by 2025.
• Reduce greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation 100 percent by 2030. All coal-fired plants will be closed and gas-fired plants will be used only for backup supply.
• Maintain the 2016 growth rate, 1,000 megawatts per year, of large-scale solar in North Carolina, but build it on vacant urban and suburban land, and on brownfields.
• Add 2,000 megawatts of solar power each year at homes, businesses, schools, and other buildings – and back it up with cost-effective battery storage, capitalizing on rapid progress by Tesla and other companies.
• Create financing options for local solar power, battery storage, and efficiency upgrades that allow everyone to benefit without financial burden.
• Accelerate energy-saving programs to reduce electricity usage 20 percent by 2025.
• Expand demand response programs and energy efficiency upgrades to reduce peak summer cooling and peak winter heating loads 50 percent by 2025.
• Create 16,000 good jobs across the state in the first three years.
• Save billions more in avoided purchase of coal and natural gas.