Dive Brief:
- Duke Energy should be on the hook for emissions compliance expenses at its Edwardsport coal gasification power plant, according to the Sierra Club.
- The environmental group says the company did not live up to its promises that the plant would reduce greenhouse gas emissions and protect ratepayers from future carbon regulations.
- According to Duke, the 618-MW Edwardsport facility, located in Knox County, Indiana, is one of the world's cleanest coal-fired power generating stations and is the first to use integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) technology on such a large scale.
Dive Insight:
The Sierra Club has filed testimony with the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission asking regulators to put the cost of carbon compliance at the Edwardsport facility squarely on Duke Energy, saying the company has not lived up to promises. Beyond Coal Central Region Deputy Director Nachy Kanfer in filed testimony said the commission "should put Duke on notice that it will bear responsibility for those costs, not Duke’s captive ratepayers."
According to Kanfer, "the regulation of carbon is here and Duke should be required to address its failed carbon mitigation promises made at the time Duke initially received approval for Edwardsport."
According to Fierce Energy, the Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor is advocating almost $115 million in rate relief for Duke customers, related to cost recovery at the Edwardsport facility, where Duke customers have paid almost $700 million for issues related to the facility.
Duke calls the Edwardsport facility "a key step in modernizing the state's aging electric system," and said the plant's advanced technology "gasifies coal, strips out pollutants, and then burns that cleaner gas to produce electricity."
