North Carolina Utilities Commission Order on Carbon Plan Doubles Down on Climate Pollution 

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — The North Carolina Utilities Commission late Friday issued a Carbon Plan that approves many of monopoly utility Duke Energy’s proposals and fails to meet the carbon pollution reduction requirements mandated by state law. The Southern Environmental Law Center intervened in the Carbon Plan proceeding on behalf of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, the Sierra Club, and the Natural Resources Defense Council.

A bipartisan state law requires North Carolina’s energy sector to reduce carbon pollution 70% below 2005 levels by 2030 and tasks the utilities commission with developing a “Carbon Plan” to meet that deadline. 

Clean energy advocates were disheartened that the order doubles down on climate pollution by pushing back coal plant retirements, allowing for several new gas-fired power plants, underinvesting in carbon-free resources, and delaying the state deadline, even as North Carolina suffers the devastating consequences of heat-trapping pollution. Advocates noted that much more solar, wind, and battery storage can be connected to the grid than Duke says is possible, pointing to states like Texas and Florida as successful examples.

David Neal, senior attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, said, “North Carolina can’t afford the new climate pollution in Duke’s approved plan. This outcome will leave our communities holding the bill for more expensive, polluting power plants and underinvest in the clean, reliable resources that must form the backbone of our grid. We’ll continue to push for the clean energy future that North Carolinians deserve and that state law and federal carbon pollution limits mandate.”