Duke Energy power plant stays on fast track

The North Carolina Utilities Commission has refused a request for a court-like hearing on Duke Energy’s new power plant in Asheville, for which Duke sought approval Friday.

Legislation last year fast-tracked the project, ordering the commission to act on Duke’s application within 45 days of its filing.

The commission has scheduled a Jan. 26 public hearing in Asheville.

But NC WARN, a Durham advocacy group, and the Boone-based Climate Times asked for an evidentiary hearing at which expert witnesses could testify and be cross-examined. That could not be accomplished within 45 days.

Duke objected, and the commission ruled Friday that it is bound by the deadlines set by the legislature. “To proceed as suggested by (WARN) would frustrate and contravene the specific intent” of the legislature, the order read.

The commission obeyed a similar, 45-day legislative timetable in approving a Duke power plant in Wayne County in 2009.

The commission’s Public Staff, which scrutinizes such projects on behalf of consumers, is expected to present its findings on the Asheville project on Feb. 22.

The Asheville project, which will replace a coal-fired power plant with units fueled by natural gas, has been controversial since Duke announced it last year.

Duke acceded to thousands of protests by reconfiguring the project to avoid the need for a 45-mile power line through scenic Henderson County, south of Asheville. It also scaled back the size of the new units.

As now designed, Duke would replace a 379-megawatt coal plant by two gas units generating 280 megawatts each. Duke might also build a third, 186-megawatt gas unit.

Natural gas is a cleaner fuel than coal, but WARN argues that it is still a fossil fuel that contributes to climate change. WARN says the new plant is not needed.

Duke said Friday it will file a future application for at least 15 megawatts of solar power and five megawatts of utility-scale electricity storage at the Asheville plant in the next seven years.

This story was originally published January 15, 2016 at 3:33 PM with the headline "Duke Energy power plant stays on fast track."