Energy Crossroads: Exploring North Carolina’s Two Energy Futures
North Carolina’s Clean Energy Plan, a proposal put together by the Department of Environmental Quality at the behest of Governor Roy Cooper, calls for a 70-percent reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from electricity by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2050. Duke Energy has submitted Integrated Resource Plans that include pathways to the Clean Energy Plan targets. Duke Energy’s Portfolio D most resembles the Clean Energy Plan, deploying wind, solar, and battery storage on an unprecedented scale. This report assesses North Carolina’s existing electricity portfolio, analyzes the changes proposed by Duke Energy’s Portfolio D, and compares that scenario to alternatives that utilize nuclear energy and natural gas to achieve emissions reduction rather than the Clean Energy Plan’s preferred wind, solar, and battery storage.
North Carolina’s Clean Energy Plan, a proposal put together by the Department of Environmental Quality at the behest of Governor Roy Cooper, calls for a 70-percent reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from electricity by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2050. Duke Energy has submitted Integrated Resource Plans that include pathways to the Clean Energy Plan targets. Duke Energy’s Portfolio D most resembles the Clean Energy Plan, deploying wind, solar, and battery storage on an unprecedented scale.
This report assesses North Carolina’s existing electricity portfolio, analyzes the changes proposed by Duke Energy’s Portfolio D, and compares that scenario to alternatives that utilize nuclear energy and natural gas to achieve emissions reduction rather than the Clean Energy Plan’s preferred wind, solar, and battery storage.
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This report analyzes the Clean Energy Plan put forward by the Department
of Environmental Quality and Governor Roy Cooper, finding that
its costs and hidden risks far exceed those of alternative plans capable
of achieving the same emissions-reduction goals. Rather than investing
in redundant, intermittent power, the state would benefit from a recognition
and continuation of the nuclear and natural gas strategy that has
thus far yielded success.
To recapitulate:
The Clean Energy Plan jeopardizes the reliability and affordability of
North Carolina’s electricity. Pursuing the Clean Energy Plan via Duke Energy’s
Portfolio D would cause a direct cost increase of more than $400
annually for each North Carolina household.
North Carolina is a national leader in productivity relative to emissions
and has an opportunity to accelerate its growth by building on its record
of success using nuclear energy and natural gas.
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