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Court Ruling Should Have No Impact on Cliffside Air Permit


WEBWIRE

CHARLOTTE, NC - Last Friday’s federal court of appeals ruling overturning federal mercury emission limits should have no impact on Duke Energy’s Cliffside project.

The final air permit for the new 800-megawatt advanced clean coal unit at Cliffside includes North Carolina’s mercury emissions limit, which is more protective than the federal limit.

“Construction continues at the site,” said James L. Turner, president and chief operating officer, Duke Energy U.S. Franchised Electric and Gas. “Since Jan. 30, we have been excavating for the boiler building. In addition, preparations have begun to pour the concrete foundation of the scrubber chimney. No delay is expected as a result of this ruling.”

Currently, the Cliffside facility emits an estimated 150 pounds of mercury each year. The new modernized Cliffside unit will use state-of-the-art air emission control equipment, which will remove up to 90 percent of the mercury emissions, while generating significantly more electricity for customers. The expected mercury emissions from the modernized Cliffside site---following the retirement of existing units 1 through 4 and the installation of a scrubber on unit 5—will be 70 to 80 pounds annually. No cap and trade is needed to meet the limit set in the final air permit for the new unit.

Duke Energy’s Carolinas’ operations include nuclear, coal-fired, natural gas and hydroelectric generation. That diverse fuel mix provides nearly 21,000 megawatts of safe, reliable and competitively priced electricity to more than 2.3 million electric customers in a 24,000-square-mile service area of North Carolina and South Carolina.
Duke Energy, one of the largest electric power companies in the United States, supplies and delivers energy to approximately 4 million U.S. customers. The company has approximately 36,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity in the Midwest and the Carolinas, and natural gas distribution services in Ohio and Kentucky. In addition, Duke Energy has more than 4,000 megawatts of electric generation in Latin America, and is a joint-venture partner in a U.S. real estate company.



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