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Duke To Build Natural Gas Power Plant, Retire Coal Plant

Duke Energy Corp. said Tuesday that it plans to retire its Asheville, N.C., coal-fired power plant and invest $750 million into building a new natural gas plant.

Duke said the new 650-megawatt plant will allow it to capitalize on low natural gas prices and cut its carbon dioxide emissions by about 60%. The plant would also be about 35% cheaper to operate than the 376-megawatt coal plant, based on current natural gas prices.

Duke said the key parts of the plan, which also includes building a $320 million transmission substation in South Carolina, should be completed by the end of 2019.

Charlotte, N.C.-based Duke operates utilities that serve more than seven million customers in the Carolinas, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky.

Duke in February agreed to settle charges that it violated the federal Clean Water Act by spilling coal ash into the Dan River in North Carolina last year, and said it would pay $102.2 million in penalties and restitution.

The deal with federal investigators includes a five-year probationary period with a court-appointed monitor to ensure compliance with provisions of the agreement.

In its latest quarter, Duke reported better-than-expected earnings as cold winter weather led it customers to increase electricity usage.

source: http://www.wsj.com