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BASICS: DUKE ENERGY’S CLIFFSIDE POWER PLANT
Duke Energy is one of nation’s largest electric utilities and its third
largest user of coal.
Over two years ago, Duke began plans for construction of two 800 megawatt
coal-fired units at its Cliffside, NC power plant west of Charlotte.
The units would use conventional, pulverized coal technology that does not
allow for controlling carbon dioxide nor mercury emissions. Five
smaller and older coal furnaces now operate at Cliffside, mostly on a
limited basis.
Duke hoped to begin construction of the new units by early 2007, but the
project has been delayed three times.
An alliance of public interest groups argued before the NC Utilities
Commission and in the public arena for over a year, that new generation
capacity is not needed, particularly because Duke had done nothing to
promote energy efficiency. Duke actually has a large department that
aggressively promotes energy usage.
In a rare denial to a NC power company, in February the Commission approved
only one unit.
Although Duke has tried to keep cost estimates quiet, opponents exposed
several price hikes. The hotly contested plant is now more than $1
billion over budget and a year behind schedule. The latest estimate
is $2.4 billion for the single unit, $600 million of which is estimated
financing costs.
Documents filed in October by Duke indicate the project is likely to suffer
further delays and cost even more before construction could begin in early
2008. Legal challenges continue over the single unit’s air pollution and
water permits. A few other points:
GREENHOUSE GASES:
Cliffside’s new plant would release six million tons of carbon dioxide
annually – the leading global warming pollutant – into the air for 50
years.
WATER USAGE:
State regulators unlawfully granted a permit allowing Duke Energy to use
120 million gallons of water per day (MGD) at Cliffside without analyzing
the impacts of drought, reliability and downstream users, according to a
legal challenge filed in October by NC WARN. Duke says that if Unit 6
is built, by 2011 the plant would withdraw far less water, but the amount
being evaporated would double to 21 MGD.
MERCURY EMISSIONS:
The new unit would more than double airborne emissions of mercury, to a
total of 405 pounds per year.
AIR POLLUTION:
State regulators are illegally allowing Duke to play a shell game involving
pollution requirements at the Cliffside project, and to claim the expansion
would actually create a “cleaner plant.”
See more
on the air pollution deception, courtesy of the Southern Environmental Law
Center.
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