Boston (Platts)--23Jul2009

The North Carolina House of Representatives late Wednesday unanimously
approved an energy bill that will increase the frequency of coal ash pond dam
inspections and allow Duke Energy Carolinas and Progress Energy Carolinas to
switch older coal-fired plants to natural gas.

The North Carolina Senate had already unanimously approved the measure
(S. 1004) and Governor Beverly Perdue, a Democrat, has said she supports it.

The measure shifts responsibility for coal ash pond dam inspections to
the North Carolina Department of Environmental and Natural Resources from the
North Carolina Utilities Commission. NCUC rules called for dams under its
jurisdiction to be inspected at least every five years, while DENR rules call
for dams to be inspected at least every two years; DENR inspects high-risk
dams annually.

Coal ash pond dam safety emerged as a major issue after a Tennessee
Valley Authority impoundment failed last December. The US Environmental
Protection Agency said that 12 of the nation's 44 high-risk coal ash pond dams
are in North Carolina, and that 10 of them are at Duke plants.

As noted, the bill will also permit the state's two large investor-owned
utilities to meet the emission-reduction requirements of North Carolina's
landmark 2007 Clean Smokestacks Act by repowering older, smaller coal-fired
plants not fitted with scrubbers as gas-fired plants.