A law passed by resoundingly bipartisan legislative majorities in 2021 requires North Carolina to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and cut its carbon pollution from the electricity sector by 70% below 2005 levels by 2030 in order to support the state's critical transition to a clean energy economy. The largest utility in North Carolina, Duke Energy, is crucial to attaining these objectives and is required to present revised plans to the Commission on a regular basis.
Duke included a significant expansion of new gas power plants in its first Carbon Plan, which was presented last year and outlined various strategies for achieving those goals. And once more, Duke expanded on a worrisome portfolio in its most recent Carbon Plan/Integrated Resource Plan (CPIRP), which seeks to: Miss the crucial 2030 target of a 70%, decrease in carbon dioxide, almost three times as much new gas construction, and postpone offshore wind development until 2040.
In contrast, Duke Energy suggests adding hydrogen to the current gas infrastructure "1% by volume in 2035, 2% by volume in 2038, and roughly 3% by volume in 2041." These proposals differ greatly from one another. The Duke hydrogen wager won't have much of an impact on the 2030 carbon emission reduction requirement and is ultimately just a justification for building new fossil capacity as the foundation for a clean energy transition.