Regulators give Duke Energy the goahead for new gas plants to replace two coal-fired facilities

Both the North Carolina Utilities Commission and the Department of Environmental Quality have given Duke Energy key approvals for the utility to move ahead with plans to build new natural gas plants in Person and Catawba Counties.

The new combined cycle gas plants are meant to replace two coal-fired plants, the Roxboro and Marshall steam stations and will be built on the properties. According to Duke Energy’s Carbon Plan, both facilities are scheduled to retire their coal-fired operations by the mid-2030s, after the gas turbines become operational.

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The Department of Environmental Quality held public hearings in November to get community input on the air quality permits at both proposed facilities. Opponents of the plan, including the Southern Environmental Law Center, argued that the proposed gas plants would contribute significantly to local air pollution. While the gas plants would have lower sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions than the coal-burning facilities they would replace, the air quality permit revealed VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) emissions would increase.

Additionally, the SELC argues these facilities would lock the state into a future that depends on burning fossil fuels for energy despite North Carolina law mandating Duke Energy reduce CO2 emissions to 70% of 2005 levels by 2030 and to net zero by 2050. Regulators have already approved a plan that misses the 2030 target by about five years.

Instead, the SELC argues Duke Energy should focus on building renewable energy technology and storage such as solar plus battery facilities.

Duke Energy argues these natural gas plants, as well as other planned gas turbine projects, are necessary to maintain reliable power to the Carolinas while transitioning the state from aging coal technology.