Duke Energy 2006 Annual Report Download - page 28

Meeting steadily growing demand
Plans to modernize our Cliffside Steam Station in North Carolina
will ensure that our customers in the Carolinas have an affordable
and reliable supply of power to support the region’s economic
growth. Our plan called for replacing four old coal units with two
supercritical and highly efficient 800-megawatt coal units using
advanced emissions controls.
In late February 2007, we received a notice of decision from the
North Carolina Utilities Commission, which authorized building
one of the two units. The commission also accepted our com-
mitment to invest 1 percent of our revenues in the Carolinas for
energy efficiency, subject to appropriate regulatory treatment, and
our plan to retire older, less efficient units.
Our estimates were based on two units, and as this annual report
was being published, we still needed an air permit for this project.
We are studying the commission’s decision and the project to
determine how to proceed. We won’t make a decision until we
have a clearer understanding of the overall costs as well as the
conditions of the air permit. We are also evaluating the possibility of
enhancing and accelerating natural gas-fired plants in our portfolio.
Another important element of our generation strategy is the 2,234-
megawatt William States Lee nuclear plant we are proposing to
build in South Carolina’s Cherokee County. We also continue
to explore building an advanced cleaner coal plant in Indiana,
and we are pursuing additional energy efficiency programs and
renewable technologies.
The net result of these initiatives will help us meet steadily
increasing customer demand while reducing multiple environ-
mental impacts of our operations, including carbon emissions.
RICK ROPER IS GENERAL MANAGER OF DUKE ENERGY’S CLIFFSIDE STEAM
STATION IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA. THE 760-MEGAWATT
BASE LOAD POWER PLANT HAS BEEN IN COMMERCIAL OPERATION SINCE 1940.
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