A statement from the Southern Environmental Law Center concerning Duke Energy’s revised cost estimate of its proposed Cliffside power plant expansion

Under pressure from environmental and clean energy groups, today Duke Energy Carolinas informed the North Carolina Utilities Commission that the cost estimate for the new units it proposes to build at its Cliffside plant now stands at approximately $3 billion, an increase of $1 billion over its previous estimate. Prior to today’s announcement, Duke sought to keep the revised cost estimate confidential, claiming that it was a “trade secret.” Duke had cited the low cost of building the Cliffside units as the justification for not investing in cleaner energy options.

Only after a coalition of public advocates—the Southern Environmental Law Center, Environmental Defense, N.C. Waste Awareness and Reduction Network, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, and the N.C. Sustainable Energy Association—demanded disclosure of a rough estimate did the company decide to release the new cost estimate.

Chapel Hill, NC -- “The new cost figures should not come as a surprise to anyone,” said SELC attorney Gudrun Thompson. “We informed the utilities commission back in September that Duke had grossly underestimated the cost of building conventional coal units at Cliffside. The fact that the cost has now skyrocketed to $3 billion undermines Duke’s argument to the utilities commission that the Cliffside units are the lowest cost way to provide power to its customers—who will, after all, be paying for the new units in the form of higher electric rates. The revised cost information makes alternatives such as energy efficiency and conservation, renewable energy, and coal gasification even more attractive. The burden is now on Duke to justify going forward with an expensive, dirty, conventional coal plant when cleaner and more economical alternatives are available.”