Duke to Expand Coal Plant Near Charlotte
The Cliffside Power Plant is located in Rutherford County, NC. It is the proposed site of a new 800-megawatt coal-fired facility to be built by Duke Energy at their existing site location. Five
older coal boilers currently exist at Cliffside and these wil be
retired and upgraded with the addition of the new units to expand
generation capacity.
Why is it bad?
The new proposed coal plant would use conventional, pulverized coal technology. This
facility would have NO ability to capture or control carbon, which
means all of these emissions will pump freely into our already warming
atmosphere for at least the next 50 years. The new 800 MW
coal-fired facility that would emit over 6 million tons of carbon
dioxide annually. We expect a facility of this size will live at least
the average of a 50-year lifespan, which means a total of 312 million
tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere throughout its life. This
grand total is equal to adding one million cars to the road each year! Mercury emissions are a major concern as well.
Study shows Cliffisde is unnecessary and overly expensive
The NC WARN report states: “Electricity rates for most North Carolina customers will increase dramatically if new coal-fired and nuclear power plants are successfully completed by Duke Energy and Progress Energy. Our analysis of recent filings by both companies shows that even with a growing population, North Carolina can eliminate the need to risk $35-40 billion on new plants. This can be accomplished through modest increases in energy efficiency, cogeneration and renewable power sources, and if necessary, by using a large oversupply of electricity in the Southeast … Electricity from new nuclear plants will cost three to five times as much as the power now being generated by Duke Energy and Progress Energy. Even the lower end of that range is much more costly than energy-saving programs, and the nuclear price tag makes all forms of renewable energy attractive in North Carolina , especially when many of them enjoy declining costs.”
[See the full report]
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