North Carolina regulators deny Duke Energy gas turbine request over ‘staggering’ cost, uncertain need — SkimNews
Get the Energy newsletter
Daily energy & climate — solar, EVs, oil, the policy fights and tech bets shaping the transition. Free.
- North Carolina Utilities Commission denied Duke Energy's proposal to build a 255-MW hydrogen-capable natural gas simple cycle combustion turbine at the Smith Energy Complex in Richmond County, citing uncertainty around load growth and the $584 million price tag staff called 'staggering' and 'very expensive.'
- Duke Energy said it was 'disappointed' by the Sept. 18 decision and is 'reviewing the order and assessing potential next steps,' maintaining that the Smith turbine is part of a least-cost path to maintain reliable and affordable service.
- The commission found Duke's projected load growth — which it said 'appears to be based upon anticipated data center customer additions' — to be 'insufficiently reliable' to justify approval, and said Duke had not shown how the facility would align with its commitments under the White House Ratepayer Protection Pledge.
- NCUC public staff initially opposed the turbine, then reversed and recommended approval as the only resource executable on a constrained timeline, though engineer Dustin Metz testified the company is 'banking on a plan of perfection' and risks violating a 22% planning reserve margin requirement in 2031.
- The turbine's capacity was revised upward from 240 MW to 255 MW after Duke Energy Progress finalized negotiations with an unnamed vendor; one witness said the unit could be installed by Jan. 1, 2030.
- The commission tied its denial to its ongoing evaluation of Duke's Consolidated Carbon Plan and Integrated Resource Plan (CPIRP), which it said won't conclude until late 2026, warning that approving the facility now would impose 'significant risk that new generation is approved before the need for that generation is determined.'
Why it matters: Duke Energy's $103 billion capital plan — the largest on file at any regulated U.S. utility — just hit a regulatory wall on a flagship data-center-driven gas project, with North Carolina commissioners deferring to a broader carbon-plan review due in late 2026. The denial signals the commission won't bank speculative data-center load without firmer cost protections for ratepayers, and could push the turbine's January 2030 in-service date or force Duke to defend its forecasts in a separate proceeding.
Ask SkimNews
