Duke May Ditch Coal
Congress may be stalemated when it comes to any new climate change policies. But some utilities think the writing is on the wall and have therefore decided to curtail their coal consumption.
Duke Energy is one of them. It just said it might close seven such facilities within five years. In a document filed with its state utility commission, it said that it expects Congress to eventually strengthen the nation's clean air laws. Therefore, it would be more economical to mothball them rather than retrofit them at a high cost.
Before this announcement, the company has already worked out an agreement with its state regulatory body to shut down 800 megawatts of coal-producing plants, albeit the deal allows Duke to build a single modern coal unit of equal value. Altogether, under both proposals, its coal use would fall from 42 percent today to 29 percent in 2030 - all at a time when it projects its electricity needs to expand by 6,000 megawatts.
It's been a heated debate. And it's really about whether older coal fired plants should be shut down or whether they should be modified to allow them to produce more power. When the original 1970 Clean Air Act passed, it was thought that many existing coal plants around the country would close after reaching the end of their useful economic lives, and few suspected they would extend into a new century. As such, those plants were granted "routine maintenance" exemptions from the act.
But lawsuits have prevented many such companies from moving ahead with any maintenance to their plants. Many have decided to settle such cases, choosing instead to install new pollution controls or even scrap them altogether like Duke has.
Critics of those actions have said the nation needs the additional generation capacity and the restoration of the older coal-fired power plants is an effective source. By loosening the restrictions, plant operators would be more inclined to revamp their plants -- adding the needed pollution controls -- without fear of being sued.
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