RALEIGH, N.C. Duke Energy, North Carolina officials and a conservation group announced Monday an agreement on how the utility pays to get rid of coal ash stored in the state. The proposed settlement would shift an estimated $1.1 billion in expenses away from customers over the next decade to the nation s largest electric utility and its shareholders.
The agreement was announced a month after the state Supreme Court ruled regulators should revisit an order that would have placed nearly all of the expense upon Duke s 3.4 million electric customers in the state.
Under the settlement, which still must be approved by the North Carolina Utilities Commission, the amounts covered by those customers would be reduced from roughly $4 billion through 2030 to $3 billion, Duke Energy spokeswoman Meredith Archie said.
Duke Energy agreed to a settlement with state officials and the Sierra Club that will save N.C. customers over $1.1 billion in costs they would have had to pay to offset the expense of the Charlotte-based utility's coal ash cleanup. Ratepayers were initially slated to pay for much of the cleanup costs. Duke Energy had long stored coal ash, a byproduct of power production, mixed with water in .
Duke settlement on coal ash may cost customers billions
Duke Energy agrees to settlement on coal ash basins By Ron Lee | January 25, 2021 at 10:42 PM EST - Updated January 26 at 7:17 AM
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - A major settlement Monday involved Duke Energy and the coal ash basins.
Duke Energy agreed to pay over $1 billion to recycle the ash and close the plants producing them, but the customers may get stuck with the rest of the bill. That’s another $3 billion.
“Doesn’t seem fair,” said Belmont resident Amanda Zimmer.
Parts of Gaston County were the hardest hit when it came to the coal ash problem. Now customers the hook for $3 billion aren’t taking it very well.
Tue, 01/26/2021 - 09:30
JEFF JACKSON TO ANNOUNCE RUN FOR 2022 U.S. SENATE RACE: North Carolina state Sen. Jeff Jackson is expected to announce today that he is running for the U.S. Senate in 2022, the latest candidate to enter what could be a large field to replace outgoing Sen. Richard Burr. Jackson, a 38-year-old Democrat from Charlotte, is in his fourth term in the state Senate. A former Gaston County prosecutor, Jackson is a captain in the U.S. Army Reserve and an Afghanistan war veteran. Burr, a Republican, announced during his 2016 campaign that he would not seek a fourth term in the Senate. Jackson, whose state Senate district was redrawn into a more competitive seat for 2020, spent the final weeks of his race at out-of-state training with the Army National Guard and off the campaign trail. Marisa took over the campaign for the final week.