U.S. Energy Provider Uses "Double-Speak" and Lacks Action, Advocate Says

Duke Energy intends to build another power plant instead of investing in energy efficiency and renewables to meet rising energy demands.

Updated: Feb 21, 2007

Duke Energy, one of the largest electric power companies in the United States, has gained recent media attention for its endorsement of mandatory carbon cap legislation. But the company’s own actions have been inconsistent with the hype, according to Matthew Wasson, conservation director with the environmental organization Appalachian Voices. Duke Energy’s attempt to build a new, standard pulverized power plant in North Carolina while paying lip service to environmental concerns is both “duplicitous” and “double-speak,” Wasson says.

The proposed Cliffside plant will produce vastly more carbon dioxide than its current counterpart, according to Wasson. Although Duke has talked about using various pollution controls in the future, the plant will initially be equipped with technology that was available 50 years ago, he notes. Wasson also points out that promoting energy efficiency and renewable energy options rather than building a new power plant would go further to reduce pollution and costs for local residents.

Programs to save energy cost 25 percent less than generating electricity from coal or nuclear plants, according to Appalachian Voices. But such efforts would harm Duke’s profits, while the company would benefit from the energy rate hikes that would be passed on to customers to cover the plant’s construction costs, Wasson explains. The company refuses to make public the information it used to arrive at cost estimates for the facility and “has a complete lock on the information that is used for energy planning” in the region, according to Wasson.

Duke Energy is one of several U.S. energy companies involved in the United States Climate Action Partnership (USCAP), a group of businesses and environmental groups advocating for federal carbon emission caps. While such involvement could be beneficial if the group does indeed inspire climate change legislation, Wasson says, he also believes that “it’s fair to judge more on actions than words” and that Duke’s efforts to spin the media are “frankly mind-boggling.”

This story was produced by Eye on Earth, a joint project of the Worldwatch Institute and the blue moon fund. View the complete archive of Eye on Earth stories, or contact Staff Writer Alana Herro at aherro [AT] worldwatch [DOT] org with your questions, comments, and story ideas.