NC Governor Josh Stein must stop the giant polluter from – once again – squandering billions on failed nukes, hugely expanding fracked gas and thwarting climate protections
War is peace. Ignorance is strength. Darkness is light. And a $36 billion nuclear construction debacle in Georgia proves the next attempt will be a cinch. That’s the contorted deceit Duke Energy is hawking to North Carolina utility regulators – even while demanding that state residents and federal taxpayers shoulder the myriad financial risks.
And what about the super-hyped need to add over $60 billion to electric rates by 2030? That’s more deception from one of the world’s worst climate polluters; as always, Duke’s eye-popping projections of massive growth in electricity needs – so it can keep building power plants – are also bogus.
Bill Powers, a veteran energy engineer from San Diego, destroys the rationale for Duke’s latest attempt to gouge the public in his new report for NC WARN. It signals climate and economic disaster if state officials keep allowing the monopoly corporation to keep lying to us all.
NC WARN delivered the engineer’s report to Governor Josh Stein today. And we’re again calling for the Governor to heed the evidence – and finally stop parroting Duke’s deception that this state is a clean energy leader.
In short, just as it has since 2005, Duke Energy leaders are set to squander precious years and billions of public dollars gambling on nuclear and fracked gas technologies while suppressing reliable – and far cheaper – climate solutions that could help to rapidly phase out fossil fuels. Other key points in Powers’ report:
- The two Georgia reactors Duke plans to copy are the most expensive power plants ever built, and they caused rates to soar 24% even as the Georgia Power monopoly profited.
- Georgia’s top inspector said the enormous cost overruns and drawn-out construction timeline at that Vogtle site would be repeated with any new nuclear project.
- Duke already failed six times trying to build the very same Westinghouse AP1000 used at Vogtle, a giant nuclear reactor, while it kept suppressing competition from solar and wind power.
- Duke identifies no lessons learned that would mitigate the chance of more failures.
- Even if Duke succeeded building AP1000s or mythical “small” modular reactors, none would open until at least 2037 – far too late to help with global warming or to power data centers.
- Contrary to the hype, power usage in Duke’s monopoly-captive territories did not grow at all from 2015 through 2024 despite large population growth and 100 new data centers.
- Duke’s existing coal- and gas-fired generation can be replaced with reliable solar-plus-storage on roofs, parking areas and urban lots – the most flexible and least expensive way to quickly and fairly add new generation, if it’s needed.
Duke has provided no indication of how it would avoid repeating the massive cost overruns and delays plaguing the AP1000 reactor; it simply claims the Georgia project is proof that large nukes are worth the gamble of public dollars.
As NC WARN told Stein today, Duke Energy’s 18 failed attempts to build reactors over the years should disqualify it from risking any public money, state or federal.
Duke’s corporate bosses always make fantastical claims about the need to keep building power plants, and year after year, they’ve been horribly wrong. Spectacular claims of future demand are highly speculative as resistance to new data centers soars and efficient technologies continue to emerge.
As we’ve told Gov. Stein, he should require any new data centers to generate their power on-site with solar plus battery storage (SPS). And he should lead the state in adding SPS to emergency shelters and other facilities critical to public safety during power outages.
As climatologist Drew Shindell emphasizes in our ads and documentary, it really is an emergency to get Duke Energy off fossil fuels. It’s obvious that gambling public billions on proven nuclear failures is a loser for North Carolina and the global struggle to avert runaway climate and social chaos.
Moreover, new nukes would be dangerous, generate deadly waste and use vast amounts of water that might not be available due to accelerating droughts and heatwaves.
Gov. Stein needs to heed the scientists instead of Duke Energy’s propaganda masters.
###
Now in its 38th year, NC WARN is building people power in the climate and energy justice movement to persuade or require Charlotte-based Duke Energy – one of the world’s largest climate polluters – to make a quick transition to renewable, affordable power generation and energy efficiency in order to avert climate tipping points and ongoing rate hikes.