- Led by significant growth in renewables and storage, plan
features diverse energy mix to balance reliability,
affordability.
- All options in plan meet carbon reduction targets in
North Carolina's clean energy law,
including least-cost and reliability mandates.
CHARLOTTE, N.C., May 16, 2022
/PRNewswire/ -- After months of stakeholder input, Duke Energy
today filed its proposed Carolinas Carbon Plan with the North
Carolina Utilities Commission (NCUC) – a clean energy plan that
balances affordability and reliability for customers.
The proposed plan provides a path to achieve 70% carbon dioxide
(CO2) emissions reduction by 2030 and carbon neutrality
by 2050, while offering regulators multiple options that balance
affordability and reliability for customers. Duke Energy has
already retired two-thirds of its coal plants in North Carolina and South Carolina – to retire the rest by the end
of 2035, the company has outlined a diverse, "all of the above" mix
of solar, storage, natural gas, wind and small modular nuclear
generation, as well as energy efficiency programs and other
measures to help customers reduce their energy use.
The plan provides a foundation for upcoming state regulatory
processes to consider. By 2035, the clean energy transition would
include:
- More than three times the current level of solar.
- Diversification of renewables with wind resources.
- Significant growth in energy storage – 3,700 megawatts (MW) to
5,900 MW to support renewables.
- Initial steps to develop zero emissions load-following
resources (ZELFRs) to enable coal retirements and eliminate natural
gas use over time.
"We are committed to bringing our customers and communities
affordable, reliable, carbon-free energy as quickly as possible,"
said Stephen De May, Duke Energy's
North Carolina president.
"Customers in North Carolina and
South Carolina deserve an orderly
energy transition that supports communities and maintains
affordable rates, while ensuring the continued reliable service and
economic competitiveness on which both states depend."
The efficiency of Duke Energy's dual-state system improves
reliability and helps keep costs as low as possible – rates in both
North Carolina and South Carolina are well below the national
average. The proposed plan will also be shared with the Public
Service Commission of South
Carolina (PSCSC) and filed in a future resource planning
docket for PSCSC decision.
Customers would see minimal costs from carbon plan
implementation over the next two years. Depending upon the
portfolio, the average annual bill impact from the plan is
projected to range from about 1.9% to 2.7% each year through 2035.
Duke Energy will continue working with stakeholders and regulators
to check and adjust the plan every two years, incorporating
technology advancements, updated cost forecasts, and potential
federal funding to ensure ongoing affordability and
reliability.
Strengthened by stakeholder
feedback
More than 500 individuals representing over 300 organizations
from both North Carolina and
South Carolina participated in the
stakeholder engagement process between January and March.
Third-party facilitator Great Plains Institute (GPI) hosted
three virtual stakeholder meetings to walk through the plan
development process and gather feedback from customers, regulators,
state and local officials, industry experts, economic development
partners, environmental organizations and community groups. At the
request of stakeholders, GPI also facilitated three additional
sessions to allow a deeper dive into technical issues examined by
subject matter experts.
"Our proposed plan is stronger as a result of this input," said
De May. "For example, based on the robust conversation, we
accelerated the timeline for offshore wind options and
significantly ramped up projections for new solar and storage
resources. We're grateful for the hundreds of stakeholders who've
participated so far, and we look forward to working with the NCUC
as it continues to gather public input, make adjustments and
determine its final plan by the end of 2022."
Multiple portfolios to balance
reliability and affordability
The plan explores the benefits, challenges and costs of
achieving the interim 70% carbon reduction target as outlined in
North Carolina state law. The plan's
first portfolio achieves the 70% target by 2030, while the other
three portfolios achieve the 70% target by 2032 or 2034 through
increased reliance on both onshore and offshore wind and/or small
modular nuclear generation, leveraging the law's flexibility
intended to help advance cutting-edge, carbon-free generation. All
four portfolios reach carbon neutrality by 2050.
In the near term, the plan focuses on aggressive energy
efficiency and demand-side management, along with grid upgrades to
enable significant growth in renewables. That includes between
7,600 MW and 11,900 MW of new solar by 2035, depending on the
portfolio, on top of the 5,000 MW of solar expected online by
yearend and an additional 1,900 MW of solar currently planned
or under development. Approaching the 2030s, wind and small modular
nuclear come into play to diversify the carbon-free energy mix.
This diversity is key to meeting the least-cost and reliability
mandates required by state law.
The plan also proposes prudent near-term activities that will
enable tangible progress in the energy transition regardless of the
chosen portfolio, while preserving optionality to allow regulators
and stakeholders to refine the plan over time. Those include:
- Growing energy efficiency and demand-side customer programs to
reduce peak demand by more than 3,400 MW by 2030.
- 3,100 MW of new solar, including 600 MW of paired storage.
- 2,000 MW of hydrogen-capable natural gas units to replace coal
and back-stand renewables.
- 1,000 MW stand-alone battery storage.
- 600 MW in onshore wind.
- Early development work for offshore wind (800 MW), small
modular nuclear (570 MW) and pumped storage (1,700 MW) – long
lead-time resources for deployment in the early 2030s.
The plan will be updated every two years. An overview, executive
summary and the full carbon plan can be found at
duke-energy.com/CarolinasCarbonPlan. The plan is being shared with
all stakeholders who participated in the engagement process, along
with modeling data for those who've signed confidentiality
agreements.
Duke Energy
Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), a Fortune 150 company headquartered in
Charlotte, N.C., is one of
America's largest energy holding companies. Its electric utilities
serve 8.2 million customers in North
Carolina, South Carolina,
Florida, Indiana, Ohio
and Kentucky, and collectively own
50,000 megawatts of energy capacity. Its natural gas unit serves
1.6 million customers in North
Carolina, South Carolina,
Tennessee, Ohio and Kentucky. The company employs 28,000
people.
Duke Energy is executing an aggressive clean energy transition
to achieve its goals of net-zero methane emissions from its natural
gas business and at least a 50% carbon reduction from electric
generation by 2030 and net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. The 2050
net-zero goals also include Scope 2 and certain Scope 3 emissions.
In addition, the company is investing in major electric grid
enhancements and energy storage, and exploring zero-emission power
generation technologies such as hydrogen and advanced nuclear.
Duke Energy was named to Fortune's 2022 "World's Most Admired
Companies" list and Forbes' "America's Best Employers" list. More
information is available at duke-energy.com. The Duke
Energy News Center contains news releases, fact sheets, photos
and videos. Duke Energy's illumination features stories
about people, innovations, community topics and environmental
issues. Follow Duke Energy
on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.
Media contact: Bill Norton
800.559.3853
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SOURCE Duke Energy