Duke Energy filed plans to ensure energy reliability for its customers in South Carolina, focusing on gas-fired power plants, nuclear reactors, and renewable energy as it moves away from coal.
Duke Energy Carolinas and Duke Energy Progress have filed their Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) with the Public Service Commission of South Carolina (PSCSC), according to a news release Tuesday.
“Over the next 15 years, electric use by Duke Energy customers in the Carolinas is projected to surge by around 35,000 gigawatt-hours – more than the annual electric generation of Delaware, Maine, and New Hampshire combined”, Duke Energy’s South Carolina state president Mike Callahan said. “We’re preparing for this extraordinary growth in energy demand by prioritizing grid reliability, energy affordability, and the deployment of a diverse range of energy options that support the sustainability goals of our South Carolina customers”.
The filed IRP includes three energy portfolios presented to the PSCSC that provide a range of generation options. All three portfolios have Duke Energy completely phase out coal by the end of 2035 with the modeled retirement of the Belews Creek power plant and the transition of the Cliffside 6 plant to 100 percent natural gas, according to the resource plan.
The three portfolios “demonstrate the need for a wide range of resource types including fuel-free renewables, advanced nuclear, energy storage, and hydrogen capable natural gas units to reliably meet growing customer needs while prudently retiring coal and advancing a system energy transition toward carbon neutrality by 2050”, Duke Energy said in the plan.
The resource plan also states that wind power is an “important component of the energy transition”, as offshore wind would be needed to provide energy and support system reliability in “a future with tighter constraints on gas supply”.
Duke Energy recommends the third portfolio in its IRP as “the most prudent path forward” as it provides for a “reliable, affordable and smart clean energy transition that supports the Palmetto State’s economic prosperity”, Duke Energy said in the release.
“This disciplined plan presents a path to build upon the tremendous economic development activity in our state that will contribute to the long-term vibrancy and prosperity of South Carolina while leveraging tax incentives and credits and operational efficiencies to help keep costs for the state’s energy future lower than they would otherwise be”, Callahan said.
Duke Energy’s third portfolio “makes the most of the companies’ existing system resources by extending the lives of Duke Energy’s nuclear plants and extending the license of the Bad Creek pumped hydro storage facility in Oconee County”, according to the release. Expanding operations at Bad Creek also provides significant economic benefits of $7.3 billion to South Carolina, as the state benefits from construction and general infrastructure activity by 2033, Duke Energy said.
The South Carolina filing begins a public regulatory process at the PSCSC that involves the evaluation of thousands of pages of testimony and data from the company, other parties to the proceeding and customers, Duke Energy said. The company expects a PSCSC decision “likely in mid-2024”.
The resource plan will also be submitted to the North Carolina Utilities Commission in the coming days, where a similar but separate regulatory process will take place. These plans are checked and adjusted every two to three years with updates filed in both states, according to the release.
According to the release, Duke Energy Carolinas owns 19,500 megawatts (MW) of energy capacity, supplying electricity to 2.8 million residential, commercial, and industrial customers across a 24,000-square-mile service area in North Carolina and South Carolina. Duke Energy Progress owns 12,500 MW of energy capacity, supplying electricity to 1.7 million residential, commercial, and industrial customers across a 29,000-square-mile service area in North Carolina and South Carolina.
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