By Sue Sturgis
Date on which the North Carolina Utilities Commission (NCUC) will hold a public hearing about Duke Energy’s latest Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), a biennial blueprint for how the company intends to generate electricity for the next 15 climate-critical years: 3/16/2021
Under Duke Energy’s proposed base plan without a carbon policy in place, megawatts of new gas generation capacity the company would build: 9,600
Under its proposed base plan with a carbon policy, megawatts of new gas generation capacity it would build: 7,350
Factor by which Duke Energy’s planned building of gas infrastructure exceeds that of the second-place utility parent company nationally, the Tennessee Valley Authority: more than 2
Considered over a two-decade timeframe, number of times more potent methane — the primary component of natural gas — is compared to carbon dioxide, another heat-trapping gas released when fossil fuels are burned: 84
According to a challenge to Duke’s IRP filed by the climate justice group NC WARN and the Center for Biological Diversity, factor by which the company lowballed cost estimates for new gas plants compared to what it actually paid for recent construction: 1/2
Also according to that challenge, percent more power Duke Energy had than needed on even the coldest days in 2019, undercutting its argument that it needs more gas-fired plants to avoid shortages: 40
