The Case Against Duke Energy

 In a unanimous ruling with major implications for public health, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a core Clean Air Act program designed to clean up the nation’s dirtiest coal-fired power plants, the single largest source of harmful soot and smog. The Supreme Court ruling, in a case against Duke Energy and brought by the Southern Environmental Law Center, will dramatically cut emissions from outdated coal-fired power plants.

The ruling reverberates far beyond the Duke Energy case and will impact numerous pending and forthcoming NSR enforcement cases across the nation – emissions from which account for 1.6 million tons per year of soot forming SO2 pollution in 2005.

Details of the Case
The case concerns renovations Duke Energy made from 1988 to 2000 at seven power plants in North Carolina and one in South Carolina. Despite investing millions in the updates at these plants, Duke called the projects mere “routine maintenance” and avoided installing legally required pollution controls. Duke claimed the controls were not required because the updates did not increase hourly pollution emission rates. However, the overhauled plants were able to operate for more hours per year, increasing annual pollution substantially and putting the public at greater risk. 

The Supreme Court’s Ruling

In a unanimous ruling April 2, 2007, the Supreme Court held that the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals erred when it allowed Duke Energy to make major overhauls at its coal-burning power plants, resulting in substantially more air pollution each year.

Under the Supreme Court decision, utilities will now face the choice of installing modern pollution controls or replacing the aging facilities with contemporary, cleaner-burning facilities that will also go a long way toward reducing greenhouse gases.
 

More background on this case:
The Case Against Duke Energy >>