WUNC: “State regulators face a year-end deadline to decide how Duke Energy will eliminate carbon emissions at power plants to meet the state’s climate goals. After a year of debate, the North Carolina Utilities Commission is expected to issue an order next week.
Power plants are the state’s second-largest source of the heat-trapping pollutants that cause global warming. Last year, legislative Republicans and Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper agreed on a compromise energy reform law to address the problem. But it left the details to the North Carolina Utilities Commission, which has spent 2022 gathering ideas and concerns through filings and public hearings.
North Carolina’s 2021 legislation wrote the state’s climate goals into law – something that only about one-third of the states have done. For most, 100% clean energy is still just a goal spelled out in roadmaps and action plans. But some states, including North Carolina, Washington and Connecticut, are using regulatory processes to draw up rules to meet those goals.
In May, Duke Energy submitted its proposed carbon plan — actually four plans that offer different routes to eliminate and replace coal-fired power plants. Duke supplies most of North Carolina’s electricity. Glen Snider, who oversees resource planning for the company, said at the time: “You’re fundamentally transforming the energy system in a way that I think is good for customers.””