Modernizing, efficiency are still good strategiesBy Jim Rogers
For the Salisbury Post
Recent news coverage questioning the integrity of scientific research on climate change, based on recently revealed e-mails and documents from a British university, has stirred debate over the effects of greenhouse gases on our planet.
What if climate change were not real? What if the dire predictions of environmental and economic catastrophe proved false?
Would the course we’ve charted for Duke Energy and our customers be different? Would we alter our company’s future plans if there were little likelihood Congress or the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency would take action on climate change?
The answer to both questions is “no.”
Even without carbon regulation, we would still have to retire and replace nearly every power plant we operate today within 40 years due to normal aging and technological obsolescence. Many of our power plants are more than 50 years old. These units have performed well for our customers, and are a key reason why our electricity prices are well below the national average.
Duke Energy’s aspiration to provide our customers with universal access to energy efficiency would continue to make sense as well. In the rising-price environment we expect in the decades ahead, helping customers manage electricity consumption more efficiently will be essential.
Duke Energy’s plans to invest in smart grid technology would also remain unchanged. Over time, modernizing our electric distribution grid will reduce costs and improve service reliability. A smart grid will also be an important enabler of advanced energy efficiency technologies, renewable energy and electric vehicles.
We would continue to support electric vehicle research, helping automakers lay the groundwork for deployment of vehicle-charging stations and related infrastructure that is critical for the large-scale launch of plug-in vehicles. This will reduce U.S.-dependence on foreign oil, improve our nation’s balance of payments to other countries and be good for our business and the environment.
We would continue building our new Cliffside power plant in North Carolina and Edwardsport plant in Indiana ó facilities that will be among the most efficient in the nation when completed in 2012.
These two plants are cornerstones of our modernization strategy in the Carolinas and the Midwest, enabling us to retire 21 generating units (1,800 megawatts) of old, inefficient, high-emitting coal plants. We also would likely retire an additional 13 coal units (2,250 megawatts) over the next 10 years. In total, these retirements will include the closure of 21 coal ash ponds.
We would continue to explore nuclear power as our main generation source for the future ó as coal plants come under increasing regulatory scrutiny due to mountaintop mining, ash disposal and stricter controls on emissions. Duke Energy has proposed new advanced-technology nuclear plants in South Carolina and Ohio.
We would move ahead with plans for two power plants in North Carolina that will use cleaner-burning natural gas to generate electricity.
The economics of natural gas power plants appear more favorable today due to lower natural gas prices. Some experts believe ample gas supplies ó and stable prices ó could exist well into the future. This is questionable. Historically, natural gas prices have been volatile compared to other fuels. Also, a large number of newly discovered natural gas reserves require substantial amounts of water and chemicals to extract the gas. This could set up a fuel vs. water debate and an array of environmental issues.
Even with these two new gas plants, our reliance on natural gas would remain low and would not subject our customers to major swings in electricity prices.
Our substantial investments in wind, solar, biomass, landfill-gas and other renewable energy sources would continue, as well ó encouraged by renewable energy requirements in a number of states. One example: Duke Energy wind farms in four states will be generating nearly 1,000 megawatts of electricity by this time next year.
Strong and credible scientific evidence has not been undercut by these documents in Britain, though an investigation of these documents is warranted.
We could continue to debate the science and not act until there is absolutely no doubt that harmful climate change is upon us. But while we chatter, the Europeans, China and India are moving forward to take the lead in creating new energy technologies.
Meanwhile, our nation’s opportunity to create jobs, reduce dependence on foreign oil and make U.S. industry more competitive will be lost.
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Jim Rogers is CEO of Charlotte-based Duke Energy.