Report warns of major jump in rates if nuclear, coal approved
Based on the utilities’ own data, the report – due out March 31 – also shows that not only are new plants unnecessary despite a growing population, but that modest increases in efficiency and clean power generation would allow phasing out of many existing coal plants within the next 15 years – a major boost for national efforts to slow emissions of greenhouse gases.
Dr. John Blackburn PhD has conducted research into energy efficiency and renewable energy over more than two decades. He has authored two books and numerous articles on the future of energy, and has served on the Advisory Boards of the Florida Solar Energy Center and the Biomass Research Program at the University of Florida. He has testified before the N.C. Utilities Commission in several utility dockets on energy efficiency and renewable energy.
According to the report, both Duke Energy and Progress Energy have inflated demand figures to make an erroneous and misleading case for the new power stations.
Progress Energy is proposing two new reactors at the Shearon Harris nuclear plant near Raleigh, while Duke Energy wants to build two reactors in Gaffney, South Carolina, not far from Charlotte. If completed, each of the four reactors are likely to cost ratepayers in North and South Carolina between $8 and 12 billion.
Duke Energy is building a large coal-burning plant at Cliffside, scheduled to open in 2012, with costs currently estimated at $2.4 billion. Costs for some of the plants could balloon even further when construction problems and delays are taken into account.
NC WARN is a member-based nonprofit tackling the accelerating crisis posed by climate change – by working for a swift North Carolina transition to energy efficiency and clean power.
Related News

Wind Leading Power
LONDON - Wind turbines have generated more electricity than gas for the first time in the UK.
In the first three months of this year a third of the country's electricity came from wind farms, research from Imperial College London has shown.
National Grid has also confirmed that April saw a record period of solar energy generation.
By 2035 the UK aims for all of its electricity to have net zero emissions.
"There are still many hurdles to reaching a completely fossil fuel-free grid, but wind out-supplying gas for the first time is a genuine milestone event," said Iain Staffell, energy researcher at Imperial…