A coalition of over a dozen Carolina-based and national clean energy and environmental justice nonprofit organizations issued a report card that finds Duke Energy Carolinas’ and Duke Energy Progress’ 2020 Integrated Resource Plans fall short of the coalition’s principles for a plan in the public interest.
Duke Energy Gas Expansion
Duke Energy is planning a massive increase in its burning of natural gas to produce electricity. This would be a climate disaster because of the large amounts of super-potent methane that leak unburned from gas operations, particularly fracking. Recent science from the United Nations and others show that new gas infrastructure is incompatible with the goal of preventing catastrophic climate change. Read more here and in the news items below about NC WARN’s work to block Duke’s fracking gas future.
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New energy report could yield a win-win for climate and pocketbooks — NC Policy Watch
FERC: Developers submit plan to undo $8B pipeline — E&E News
Duke Energy Plans Increased Coal Use, 50 New Fracked-gas Units — News Release from NC WARN
Despite “climate plan” and greenwashing TV ads, 15-year Carolinas plan leaves Duke a national laggard on cheaper renewable power. In the Carolinas, Duke plans to greatly expand its burning of fracked gas – and expand coal use – even as dozens of its gas units sit totally unused, while continuing to limit the growth of cheaper renewable power.
Many U.S. electric utilities plan slow decarbonization over next decade, out of sync with Biden plan — Energy & Policy Institute
Too Much Sun Degrades Coatings That Keep Pipes From Corroding, Risking Leaks, Spills and Explosions — Inside Climate News
We’ve fought the pandemic together. Let’s do the same with climate change. — News & Observer
Op-Ed by Drew Shindell and Jim Warren. Reducing methane emissions is crucial for limiting climate change in the near term. Doing so can provide vital benefits, including fewer people dying from air pollution and heat waves and harmed by powerful storms and wildfires. The climate crisis demands that we stop building fossil fuel infrastructure immediately.
Governor Roy Cooper Led North Carolina to Act on Climate Change. Will That Help Him Win a 2nd Term? — Inside Climate News
Prominent Climate Scientist Leads Call for NC Governor, Duke Energy CEO to Halt Gas Expansion and Turn to Clean, Cheaper Options — News Release from NC WARN
A globally prominent expert on methane’s impacts on the climate is urging Governor Roy Cooper and Duke Energy CEO Lynn Good to lead a cooperative effort for North Carolina to help slow the global climate emergency. In a letter signed by 40 former EPA officials from this state, Dr. Drew Shindell said lessons from the ongoing pandemic and the cancelled Atlantic Coast fracked gas Pipeline (ACP) provide a critically important opportunity to spring forward to a more equitable and economically timely “new normal” while a return to business as usual could be disastrous.
See the Op-Ed Running in the N&O, Charlotte Observer, Durham Herald-Sun, NC Policy Watch, and the Fayetteville Observer
Persistent Opposition to Duke Energy’s Rate Hikes as Hearings Approach — News Release from NC WARN
As a long-awaited hearing begins next Monday, attorneys for NC WARN and allies will firmly oppose Duke Energy’s request for yet another electricity rate hike even as the Utilities Commission’s Public Staff and other parties recently announced settlements with Duke on portions of the rate request.
See coverage by WFAE