Editor’s note: After this story went to press, the N.C. Division of Air
Quality issued an air quality permit for Cliffside.
The fight against expanding the Cliffside power plant has some high-profile political muscle, and Duke Energy isn’t happy about it.
The electric utility last week condemned Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue and State Treasurer Richard Moore after the two Democrat gubernatorial candidates came out against Cliffside.
“We are disappointed that any candidate for political office would ignore the long-term economic and environmental benefits of the Cliffside modernization process,” Duke Energy Carolinas President Ellen Ruff said in a statement released Jan. 23.
“Delaying the decision means postponing the environmental benefits of immediately retiring four older, less-efficient coal units at Cliffside; delaying investment of $50 million a year in energy efficiency; and postponing the retirement of up to 800 megawatts of older coal units as we deliver more energy efficiency to our customers.”
Last March, state regulators gave Duke Energy initial approval to build one of the two 800-megawatt coal-fired units the utility wanted to build at its Cliffside plant in Rutherford and Cleveland counties, about 60 miles west of Charlotte. The construction would replace four smaller, outdated units.
Environmentalists have roundly condemned the project, and the National Park Service and the U.S. Environmental Projection Agency have raised concerns.
But the region’s politicians and chambers of commerce have largely embraced the expansion. Until Dan Besse, a Winston-Salem city councilman running for lieutenant governor, came out against Cliffside, few officeholders have questioned the project openly. Besse has since been joined by two other candidates for lieutenant governor: Hampton Dellinger, former legal counsel to Gov. Mike Easley, and Canton Mayor Pat Smathers.
“We’re getting more attention from candidates running for statewide office, which is great,” says June Blotnick, executive director of the Carolinas Clean Air Coalition.
The governor’s office doesn’t approve utility projects. While a candidate’s opposition may signal their feelings about energy policy, it’s not likely to be a real impediment to Cliffside development.
Still, says Blotnick, “The governor does have some influence over state agencies. I think if the governor really wanted to, the governor could stop Cliffside.”
Duke Energy’s political action committee is a significant campaign donor in N.C., having given more than $48,000 in 2007 to candidates for state office, including $3,000 to Perdue, according to campaign finance records. “The bottom line is Duke has an enormous influence in the legislature itself, and in our state, in terms of being able to get what they want,” Blotnick says.
The state Division of Air Quality is expected to decide soon whether to approve an air quality permit for Cliffside. The permit could allow Duke Energy to begin project construction.
This article appears in Jan 30 – Feb 5, 2008.
