Despite the North Carolina General Assembly’s mandate to reduce carbon emissions by 70% before 2030, Duke Energy and Dominion Energy are digging their heels–and our pocketbooks–into fossil fuels.
Duke Energy recently released its plan for our energy future, and it is a far cry from the solar, wind, and battery storage North Carolinians need and deserve. Duke plans to build triple the amount of gas plants previously planned in our state.
Gas plants are expensive, dirty, and unreliable. Gas plants also rely on fuel, which is a market Dominion Energy already has covered. Not only is Dominion planning to build a 45 mile pipeline in the Carolinas, but they are collaborating with Duke to further unleash a fracked gas buildout throughout North Carolina.
Dominion has submitted plans to the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality for a methane gas storage facility called the Moriah Energy Center. Dominion plans to store over 25 million tons of liquefied methane gas here.
The Moriah Energy Center alone could emit 65,579 tons of greenhouse gasses each year according to Dominion’s calculations. That is equivalent to the emissions of 14,500+ gas-powered cars for one year according to the EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator.
North Carolinians don’t want harmful gas polluting our planet or harming our communities, especially the folks in Person County, where Dominion plans to build the Moriah Energy Center.
This facility is just one part of the plan to expand Duke and Dominion’s hold over North Carolina’s energy future and further cement us into fossil fuels. And why do Duke and Dominion want more gas? More expensive infrastructure means more money back in these utilities’ pockets.
By building out gas, Duke and Dominion are putting profits over people and are once again failing to abide by the law.
