Say "NO" to More Dirty Coal-Fired Power Plants - Attend Hearing Jan 10, Charlotte

DUKE ENERGY WANTS US TO PAY $3 BILLION FOR A COAL PLANT 50 MILES WEST OF CHARLOTTE

* Duke Energy has proposed building one of the nation’s largest coal plants at its CLIFFSIDE site, directly upwind of Charlotte.

* Comparable-sized facilities typically burn over 5 million tons of coal a year and emit huge amounts of global warming pollution and mercury, a toxic heavy metal.

* The plant would further pollute Charlotte’s air, which is already out of compliance with federal air quality standards because of dangerous ozone pollution, risking the loss of hundreds of millions in federal highway funds.

*Because initial cost estimates jumped from $2 billion to $3 billion, the NC Utilities Commission has offered the public another chance to comment on this “investment” which will be paid for by us, the ratepayers.

EXPANDING CLIFFSIDE will lock North Carolina into a dirty energy future –50 more years of blasting away the tops of Appalachian Mountains and pumping out 110 million tons of global warming pollution each year.

You Can Make A Difference.

ATTEND PUBLIC HEARINGS ON JANUARY 10 AND 11 AND/OR WRITE THE NC UTILITIES COMMISSION!

Charlotte
January 10, 2007 – 7 p.m.
Main Library
310 N. Tryon Street
* PRESS CONFERENCE Outside at 6 pm

Shelby
January 11, 2007 – 10am
Shelby City Hall
300 S. Washington St.

Please come attend or speak at these public hearings, or write the NCUC with your thoughts:

NC Utilities Commission
Re: Docket E7, Sub 790 (Cliffside)
4325 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-4325

There is a better way.

Duke has not seriously addressed alternative ways to meet our energy needs. Yet plenty of evidence shows that energy efficiency programs and renewable, clean energy could eliminate the need for these plants and at the same time stimulate economic development, create jobs, and save ratepayers money!

* A study by the NC Utilities Commission shows that NC can generate significant amounts of electricity from renewable, clean energy sources such as wind and hydroelectric power. Over 20 states and D.C. have passed renewable portfolio standards (“RPS”) that require utilities to get a certain percentage of electricity from clean, renewable sources.

* Appalachian State University calculates that energy-efficiency programs could save NC $3 billion per year and support over 150,000 jobs at an annual salary of $42,000. The Cliffside expansion would cost $3 billion and provide less than 100 long-term jobs.

* Electric Power Research Institute (the electric power industry’s own think tank) says that energy efficiency could reduce usage by 27-44%, eliminating the need for new coal-fired plants!

USE YOUR VOICE FOR A CLEAN ENERGY FUTURE- ATTEND PUBLIC HEARINGS ON JANUARY 10 ND 11 AND/OR WRITE THE NC UTILITIES COMMISSION!

Duke has not demonstrated a clear need for this facility or explored other options:
Experts testified that Duke has not shown a need for so much new base load power and that Duke’s 10-year plan did not adequately explore other ways to meet new demand, such as energy efficiency and renewable energy.

The Utilities Commission should require Duke to pursue the least-cost option of providing power, which also happens to be the option that creates many more jobs:
* The real cost of power plants -- which utilities are permitted to pass on to ratepayers, plus a profit margin -- would rise significantly in carbon-regulated system. Congress is already considering enacting a carbon tax to address global warming, and Duke should be required to factor in the possible costs of such regulation.

* Coal costs are predicted to rise as supplies of other fossil fuels and easily-mined coal in the Appalachians diminish. Duke has not adequately considered rising coal costs.

* No coal is extracted in North Carolina, so Duke will buy all the coal from out of state – sending hundreds of millions of dollars out of our state revenue stream annually.

The NCUC is charged with regulating monopoly utilities in the public interest:
Coal-fired power plants are not in the public interest, especially given the available alternatives that cost the same or less but don’t cause haze, smog, asthma, heart and lung disease, mercury poisoning of our children, or Global Warming pollution.

For more information contact:
Carolinas Clean Air Coalition (704)342-9161
director@clean-air-coalition.org