Duke Energy’s recently issued 15-year Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) is not up to the challenges posed by climate change. An NC Utilities Commission public hearing on the Duke IRP was scheduled for March 16. Public response was outstanding, with over 200 people signing up. The originally planned single session will now be spread over six evenings, from April 14 to May 26:
Weds. 4/14/2021 6:00 pm
Mon. 4/19/2021 6:00 pm
Weds. 5/05/2021 6:00 pm
Weds. 5/12/2021 6:00 pm
Mon. 5/17/2021 6:00 pm
Weds. 5/26/2021 6:00 pm
You may observe the hearings via a YouTube link that will be available on the Utilities Commission website on each day that the hearings are held. We will keep you posted on the results of these hearings.
Let Your Voice Be Heard
People of faith have a long history of speaking the truth about the social challenges we face. We depend on the moral teachings of our many faith traditions to do what is right and just.
We are all affected, and our personal testimony is essential.
Although the speaker registrations are closed, we call on you to raise your voice for creation by signing our petition and sending your own comments to the utilities commission.
Send your own comments directly to the Utilities Commissioners
Add your name and comments to this petition
More Details about the Plan
Duke Energy and Duke Progress are large emitters of the greenhouse gases that warm the planet and threaten a climate catastrophe if effective action is not taken now. The IRP outlines how Duke will generate electric power for their customers, with possible scenarios for fossil fuel-fired power plants, nuclear plants, and renewable sources.
Duke Energy’s new 15-year Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) shows 6% renewables in 2021. Although a Duke-supported study showed 29-34% renewables are possible by 2030, the IRP sets only 15% renewables by 2035, well below the actual 2020 national average of 19.8%.
Duke is required to use the most inexpensive energy source. The plan underestimates the cost of building new gas plants and overestimates the cost of installing solar and storage. It also under-reports the excess power available at peak demand: in fact there are lots of power plants that are not being used at those peak times. Furthermore, the plan calls for building new gas plants in 2035, even though accurate numbers show that gas is more expensive than renewables.
North Carolina Interfaith Power & Light (NCIPL) and ICCT have found the IRP to be inadequate to the challenges we face, as spelled out by the U. N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and North Carolina’s Clean Power Plan. NCIPL has delineated these concerns in a petition discussed with Duke on January 28, 2021.
To learn more, see the following resources.
Resources
Presentation: What’s in the Duke Integrated Resource Plan?
Video: Duke Energy IRP Overview and NC Utilities Commission Public Hearing
Includes training on testifying before the NC Utilities Commission
Analysis of Duke IRP
by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA)
Guide to 2020 IRPs of Utilities Serving North Carolina
Published by NC Alliance to Protect our People and the Places We Live (NC-APPPL) and NC Climate Solutions Coalition
