Duke Energy Carolinas and Duke Energy Progress have paused their consideration of tapping certain U.S. Department of Energy funding because it may not be available under a Trump administration, according to a filing last week with the North Carolina Utilities Commission.
The Duke Energy utilities were preparing to hire a consultant to review opportunities to use DOE’s Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment program, a $250 billion fund managed by the department’s Loan Programs Office, according to the Nov. 27 filing.
The move towards hiring a consultant was part of a settlement agreement on Duke’s carbon reduction plan that the NCUC approved last month. Among other things, the NCUC authorized Duke to spend up to $1 million to hire a consultant to assess potential ratepayer benefits from using the EIR program, which was created through the Inflation Reduction Act. A report from the consultant is due May 1, but that will likely be affected by the pause, according to the filing.
Through the EIR program, the LPO provides low-cost financing for projects that retool, repower, repurpose or replace energy infrastructure that has been retired or that reduces air pollution, including carbon emissions.
The program is authorized through September 2026. As of Oct. 31, the LPO has $245 billion in remaining loan authority for the program and about $397 billion in total available loan authority, according to a recent LPO update.
However, following the election of Donald Trump and new members of Congress on Nov. 5, the Duke utilities are watching for changes to the LPO or to funding for loan guarantee programs under the IRA, which may affect the EIR program, the utilities told the NCUC.
“Given the uncertainties of the EIR Program’s future, [NCUC] Public Staff and the Companies agree that it is in the best interest of customers to pause any further efforts or expenditures until February, following the appointment of the new administration to gain clarity on the future of the EIR Program,” Duke Energy Carolinas and Duke Energy Progress said in the filing.
Meanwhile, the LPO on Monday said it has made a conditional commitment for a loan of up to $7.54 billion to StarPlus Energy — a joint venture between Stellantis and Samsung — for two lithium-ion battery cell and module manufacturing plants in Kokomo, Indiana. The StarPlus project will produce about 67 GWh of batteries, enough to supply about 670,000 vehicles a year, the LPO said.
Last week, the LPO said it made an up to $6.57 billion conditional commitment to Rivian New Horizon to finance an EV manufacturing facility in Stanton Springs North, Georgia. The office also issued a conditional loan guarantee of up to $289.7 million to Sunwealth Holdco 18 to install up to 1,000 solar photovoltaic and battery energy storage systems that could total 168 MW of PV and 16.8 MW/33.6 MWh of storage.
The LPO also made a conditional loan guarantee commitment of up to $4.9 billion to an Invenergy subsidiary to help finance the 2.5-GW Grain Belt Express transmission project’s first phase, which is set to run 578 miles from Ford County, Kansas, to Callaway County, Missouri.
