NCUC Announces Opportunities for Public Participation in Development of Carbon Plan Pursuant to H951- Press Release Issued 01/31/2022 | Eastern North Carolina Now

Press Release:

    RALEIGH, NC     On October 13, 2021, Governor Cooper signed into law House Bill 951 (S.L. 2021-165), directing the Commission to take all reasonable steps to achieve reductions in the emissions of carbon dioxide in this State from electric generating facilities owned or operated by certain electric public utilities. The North Carolina Utilities Commission (Commission or NCUC) is directed to achieve a reduction of 70% from 2005 levels by the year 2030 and carbon neutrality by the year 2050. Session Law 2021-165 limits the applicability of this requirement to Duke Energy Progress, LLC (DEP), and Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC (DEC, together with DEP, Duke). The Commission is directed to develop a plan (the Carbon Plan) to achieve these emission reductions by December 31, 2022, and to review the plan every two years thereafter.

    The Commission has ordered Duke to file a proposed Carbon Plan by no later than May 16, 2022. Session Law 2021-165 requires that the development of the Carbon Plan include stakeholder input. The Commission has further ordered Duke to conduct at least three stakeholder meetings before May 13, 2022.

    Persons or entities having an interest in the Carbon Plan development process and desiring to intervene in the matter as formal parties of record may file their petitions to intervene by July 15, 2022. These petitions should reference Docket No. E 100, Sub 179, and should be filed with the North Carolina Utilities Commission, 4325 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, North Carolina 27699 4300. Intervenors may file a plan, report, or evaluation of or comments on Duke's proposed Carbon Plan within 60 days from the filing of Duke's proposed Carbon Plan.

    Persons or entities interested in participating in the Duke-organized stakeholder process may contact the third party stakeholder process facilitator, Great Plains Institute, at DukeCarbonPlan@gpisd.net to receive future communications about the stakeholder process. Additional information about the Duke-organized stakeholder process is available at https://www.duke-energy.com/our-company/about-us/carolinas-carbon-plan#tab-8fb1e91b-ab3a-482e-bd00-52d965e3edc8.

    The Commission intends to closely monitor this stakeholder process. Duke and the Public Staff are required to file separate reports within five business days after each stakeholder meeting. Further, the Commission will conduct sessions following each stakeholder meeting to enable it to better assess the sufficiency of the stakeholder process. For more information, see Order Requiring Updates on Stakeholder Meetings, Docket No. E-100, Sub 179 (January 21, 2022).

    Beyond the Duke-organized stakeholder process, any person or entity may submit written statements to inform the Commission of their positions on the Carbon Plan. Statements should be addressed to the North Carolina Utilities Commission, 4325 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, North Carolina 27699 4300, and reference Docket No.E 100, Sub 179. Persons may also electronically submit a position statement to the Commission about the Carbon Plan via the Commission's website at www.ncuc.net/contactus.html. In either case, consumer statements will be placed in Docket No. E-100, Sub 179CS and may be accessed by searching that docket number via the Commission's website.

    Written consumer statements cannot be considered competent evidence unless the author appears at a public hearing and testifies concerning the information contained in their written statement. The Commission intends to schedule at least three public witness hearings regarding the Carbon Plan, which will be publicly noticed, by subsequent order following the filing of Duke's proposed Carbon Plan by May 16, 2022.


   Contact: Warren Hicks
   Email: whicks@ncuc.net