Articles Wednesday on the climate crisis and the controversial energy bill, House Bill 951, wrongly implied that Duke Energy is shifting off fossil fuels. In fact, Duke’s 15-year plan — hotly contested in a long-running N.C. Utilities Commission fight — proposes to add 9,600 megawatts of new gas-fired generation. That’s over 50 units at an unspecified number of sites in the Carolinas.
A UN-backed climate-and-methane report released in May calls for a halt to the expansion of natural gas (methane) infrastructure as essential to slowing climate change. Its lead author, Duke University’s Drew Shindell, told the New York Times that expanding gas is “going wildly in the wrong direction.”
Utilities in non-monopoly states are ramping up renewables paired with storage because that approach wins on economics and reliability.
Meanwhile, Duke Energy leaders spend millions giving money to our politicians and running greenwashing ads to hide the truth: Duke is only 5% renewable in the Carolinas — one-third the national average.
Jim Warren
Executive Director
NC WARN
