The NC Utilities Commission (NCUC) issued its Carbon Plan order as required by its statutory deadline of December 30, but the order leaves unanswered at least as many questions as it resolves.

Most fundamentally, the NCUC declined to select any single plan as the basis for its order. Instead, it left Duke Energy the “flexibility” which the utility had requested to avoid committing to any specific path for reaching the 2030 and 2050 goals for decreasing carbon emissions. 

The order specifies a biennial plan update process to define the planning on a rolling basis, beginning in September 2023. In the meantime, the order focuses on “near-term actions” intended to further the development of several of the options for replacing high-carbon emission sources (especially existing coal power plants). To the disappointment of environmental and clean energy advocates, the options still on the table include new natural gas infrastructure and nuclear fission plants. 

On the positive side, the order maintains the target date of 2030 for achieving the interim goal of a 70% reduction in carbon emissions (compared to 2005 levels) from the electric power sector in North Carolina. It also includes among the targeted near-term actions additional development of both onshore and offshore wind, additional solar, and utility-scale battery storage capacity.

Clean energy advocates were seeking greater emphasis on renewable resources and avoidance of new gas and nuclear facilities. “North Carolina can meet state carbon-reduction goals on time and in a cleaner and more affordable way than suggested by Duke Energy and endorsed by the commission,” said David Neal, an attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC). 

CIB will include further coverage of this issue as NCLCV and allies complete our analysis of the order and preparation of responses.