Duke Energy Unveils "We Don't Give A Fuck" Energy Plan; Will Keep Burning Coal For 2-4 More Years, Because AI

Duke Energy plans to burn coal for two to four years longer than previously estimated, which will result in millions of tons in additional greenhouse gases over the next decade when combined with other proposed changes to the utility’s fuel mix. The utility would significantly increase battery storage—by 56 percent—but also deploy fewer renewables. The details are laid out in more than 100 pages of the utility’s biennial Carbon Plan, released Oct. 1 and submitted to the North Carolina Utilities Commission.

Duke cited the state’s growing energy demand, driven by data centers and large manufacturers, coupled with the Trump administration’s fossil-fuel friendly energy policy as reasons for the changes. This includes the rollback of federal air regulations, increased support for the coal industry and the end of renewable power subsidies.

State policy, too, shaped the plan. Senate Bill 266, now law after the state legislature in late July overrode Gov. Josh Stein’s veto, allowed Duke to eliminate its interim goal of a 70 percent reduction in carbon emissions by 2035. Instead, the utility is only subject to a goal of net zero by 2050.

Under its previous plan, Duke projected it would shutter its remaining coal-fired power plants no later than 2035. Last year the utility retired the Allen Steam Station on Lake Wylie, where the first battery storage goes online next month. But unfettered by the interim carbon reduction goal, several of those retirement dates have been extended to the mid-to-late 2030s, depending on the plant. Belews Creek, in Stokes County, would burn coal as late as 2040, four years longer than planned, when Duke projects a small nuclear reactor could come online.

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https://insideclimatenews.org/news/02102025/duke-energy-carbon-plan-coal-data-centers/