Dive Brief:
- Duke Energy is planning to sell over 12 power plants in the Midwest, sources close to the matter told Bloomberg.
- Speaking on condition of anonymity, the sources posited the plants could be sold all together for $1.5 billion to $2 billion.
- Bids for the plants are expected early next year.
Dive Insight:
All across the country, utilities and generators are selling coal-fired power plants for cents on the dollar. Looming EPA carbon emissions regulations, stagnant demand growth and an abundance of low-cost natural gas are driving utilities to offload these no longer profitable power plants.
The plants for sale are all part of Duke's PJM generation fleet, which is struggling to compete with natural gas on the wholesale market. CEO Lynn Good previously said the company would wait to make a decision on the plants until regulators decided how much Duke could charge ratepayers for costs beyond market-based prices. Duke is awaiting a decision on a $729 million rate hike in Ohio.
