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Citing rapid growth in the Carolinas, Duke Energy calls for new resources

Among the proposed adjustments to the company’s resource plan are new natural gas combined-cycle capacity, more solar and storage and the potential of offshore wind off the North Carolina coast.
Citing rapid growth in the Carolinas, Duke Energy calls for new resources
(Source: Rawpixel.)

Duke Energy has provided a resource plan update to regulators this week, calling for new generation additions in response to the Carolinas’ rapid growth.

In a filing to the North Carolina Utilities Commission (NCUC), the utility forecasted even greater electricity demand than projected in the proposal last summer.

Duke said “new economic development wins, including manufacturing and technology projects across the Carolinas” make up the primary driver of the increased electric demand. The utility said annual demand expects to increase 22% by 2030 and 25% by 2035 from 2022 planning cycles — driven by
significant additional economic development activity that took place during 2023.

Notably, according to the Census Bureau, South Carolina’s population grew faster than any state’s in 2023.

“We’re already projecting eight times the load growth we anticipated just two years ago,” said Mike Callahan, Duke Energy’s South Carolina president.

Duke Energy put forth its original resource plan to regulators in August 2023. The company presented three portfolio scenarios but recommended one that achieves 70% CO2 emission reductions from 2005 levels by 2035.

MORE: Duke Energy proposes site for new nuclear in North Carolina

The company’s latest update, its “Portfolio P3 Fall Base,” introduces almost 6.8 GW of additional resources.

The adjustments include the following new proposed resources by 2031: 460 MW of new solar, 175 MW of storage to be paired with solar and 425 MW of new natural gas-fired combustion turbine capacity. The proposed changes also include 2,720 MW of natural gas combined-cycle (NGCC) capacity by 2033, 134 MW of pumped storage hydro by 2034 and 2,400 MW of offshore wind by 2035.

Duke said the new gas plants would hydrogen-capable, including a proposed combined-cycle plant to be built in South Carolina. The 2.4 GW of offshore wind would be built off the coast of North Carolina, subject to necessary regulatory approvals and support.

On Jan. 25, the Public Service Commission of South Carolina (PSCSC) approved Duke Energy’s proposal to provide the proposed adjustments and reset the previously approved regulatory schedule for the process. Under South Carolina’s IRP statute, that new schedule now plans for a hearing in mid-September. Regulators will order a path forward, likely in November 2024.

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