Duke Energy Leaning Green

I’ve been known to criticize Duke Energy for its plans to build a new coal power plant at Cliffside. But recently Duke has taken some bold steps in alternative energy and should be applauded for that.

Earlier this year the company announced plans to build what will be (for a while at least) the nation’s largest photovoltaic solar farm to be built in Davidson County, N.C., north of Charlotte. It will be capable of putting out slightly over 16 megawatts. The solar farm should be operational by the end of 2010 when it will supply the needs of over 2,600 homes.

Duke is also proposing a $100 million plan to install solar photovoltaic systems at up to 850 North Carolina sites that will include homes, schools, stores and factories. This plan aims to produce up to 20 megawatts of power from all of those sites together in what is referred to as “distributed generation”. The plan, which still needs regulatory approval, will likely take about two years to complete, once it gets started. But Duke expects to learn a great deal about how distributed generation can work within the current structure of the grid.

In another recent renewable energy development, Duke announced a deal to purchase 2 megawatts of power to be produced by Methane Power Inc from the city of Durham landfill site that closed over 10 years ago. This project is expected to be delivering power by May 2009.

All of these plans together help Duke Energy meet its obligations under the State’s new Renewable and Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard (REPS).  This standard requires generators to meet 12.5% of their clients’ energy needs with renewable energy or efficiency measures by 2021. The new law has specific provisions for solar energy. Beginning in 2010, 0.02 percent of the electricity sold to customers in the state, or an equivalent amount of energy, must be produced by solar energy resources. That requirement grows to 0.2 percent in 2018 and thereafter.

I could say it’s a start; that Duke Energy is moving in a positive direction.  Though this 38 megawatts (16+20+2) of solar and landfill energy is tiny compared to the 800 megawatts of new coal power proposed at Cliffside. Duke is quick to point out that it will retire 1,000 megawatts of older, less efficient coal plants by building new at Cliffside. While I’d rather see Duke build 800 megawatts of solar, I have to cheer it for starting to lean toward green! I’m hoping we’ll see a whole lot more renewable energy programs coming out of both Duke Energy and Progress Energy soon.