Duke Energy plans to replace a 40-year-old coal-burning plant in Asheville, N.C., with an eco-friendlier $750 million natural gas facility.
The Charlotte-based utility announced this week its plans to retire the coal plant at Lake Julian while building a new natural gas-powered site that includes creation of solar energy – a week after Duke Energy pleaded guilty in federal court to nine criminal violations of the federal Clean Water Act related to coal ash polluting the Dan River in North Carolina. The company was fined $102 million and placed on five years probation.
Duke Energy, the nation’s largest electric utility provider, said the proposed 650-megawatt natural gas-fired plant in Asheville would be on the same site as the coal facility. With more than 1 ½ times the capacity of the current coal-burning plant, the natural gas facility will power more than a half-million homes, the company said.
“With the availability and near record-low cost of natural gas, this comprehensive project will transform the energy system in the region to meet the growing needs of our customers and significantly reduce emissions and water use,” said Lloyd Yates, Duke Energy executive vice president of market solutions and president of the Carolinas region. “We’re eager to move ahead quickly on these projects and complete the key components of the plan by the end of 2019.”
The plan includes investing approximately $320 million to build a transmission substation near Campobello in Spartanburg County and connect it to the Asheville power plant. It also includes upgrading and rebuilding additional electrical infrastructure such as transmission lines and distribution substations.
Electricity use in Duke Energy’s Asheville service area has doubled in the last 40 years, the company said, requiring about 400 megawatts of power imported from other areas during peak demand periods to ensure system reliability. The region’s power could expand by 15 percent over the next decade.
As for utility rates, new capital investment announcements won’t lead to new rate increases for customers in the “near future,” said David Scanzoni, a Charlotte-based Duke spokesman. The most recent rate increase occurred in July 2014.
“It won’t have any negative impact for customers,” Scanzoni said. “It’s good for the environment and for customers.”
A week ago, Duke began removing about 1.4 million tons of coal ash from the W.S. Lee Steam Station in Anderson County, a top concern for local environmental groups worried the coal byproduct could pollute the Saluda River.
Duke closed the coal-burning units of Anderson County facility in 2014 and also plans to begin construction of a natural gas plant on the site similar to the proposed operation in Asheville.
The utility has said it plans to shift energy production to less environmentally polluting methods, and recent issues have encouraged more rapid action. The company said the future natural gas plant in Asheville would significantly reduce toxic gases currently produced at the site.
D.J. Gerken, a senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center’s Asheville office, said Duke’s recent announcements advance efforts to encourage less pollution in exchange for energy production, but fall short of decreasing reliance on fossil fuels.
“Duke Energy’s plan also relies on construction of a new natural gas plant on site, which is a missed opportunity for a greater investment in renewable energy,” he told the Upstate Business Journal.
Duke spokesman Scanzoni said the energy provider continues to balance providing reliable, affordable energy with environmental concerns. It no longer operates any coal plants in South Carolina. After retiring the coal-powered plant in Asheville, the company will still have six others in North Carolina.
“We’re trying to find the right balance between affordable, reliable and increasingly clean energy,” he said.
