This week, Progress Energy Carolinas' announced a plan to retire about 30 percent of the company's coal-fired power plant fleet in North Carolina. These plants have been a vital part of keeping the lights on for more than 50 years, and the decision to retire them was made after months of evaluation.
As environmental regulations continue to change, and as even more significant environmental rule changes appear likely in the near future, the cost of retrofitting and operating these plants will increase dramatically. We believe that this is the right decision for our customers, our state and our company.
Switching from coal to natural gas will result in significant emission reductions and the elimination of coal-ash production at the affected plant sites. Carbon is reduced 40 percent to 50 percent, sulfur dioxide and mercury emissions are eliminated, and nitrogen oxide emission rates are reduced more than 95 percent.
This is a powerful environmental story. But it's not the entire story.
The switch from coal to natural gas will help us meet the expected near-term carbon-reduction targets sought in federal climate legislation. But both the House and Senate versions of climate legislation call for reductions of 80 percent or more by 2050 (based on 2005 emission levels). So, even if we retired all of our coal-fired plants in the Carolinas and switched to natural gas, we would not meet the CO2 emission reductions targeted for 2050.
In many industries, 2050 might seem light years away. But for electric utilities responsible for implementing public policy by investing in infrastructure needed to generate and distribute electricity to millions of people it's much, much closer.
Planning and building large baseload plants (those that run 24/7 to meet constant customer electricity demands) is a continuous process. We have to make resource decisions using the best available information on technology, regulations, costs, customer growth and usage and many other factors years in advance of the anticipated need.
Low-carbon resources, such as natural gas, are an excellent bridge for the next two decades. But getting to the proposed 2050 targets requires proven carbon-free resources. The only technology capable of providing that no-carbon power generation, on a scale capable of meeting the needs of millions of North Carolinians, is nuclear power.
Nuclear energy is already a vital part of North Carolina's energy mix. Last year, about 46 percent of the power we generated for our customers came from nuclear plants.
Wind, solar, biofuels and other technologies all have a key role in our future energy mix, and we will continue to invest in those promising energy sources. But nuclear is the only large-scale, emission-free, 24/7 source of electricity generation capable of filling the void left by retired coal-fired power plants. The Electric Power Research Institute, in a report issued Aug. 3, forecast the need for 45 new nuclear reactors by 2030, as part of a plan to comply responsibly and efficiently with anticipated carbon-reduction targets.
As world leaders gather in Copenhagen in the coming days in an effort to shape global carbon emission-reduction targets, it is more important than ever to acknowledge these realities. If we're serious about reducing carbon emissions on an aggressive schedule, without compromising the reliable, affordable electricity Americans depend on, we must recognize both the vital role of advanced nuclear energy, and the need for a flexible, cost-effective and responsible means of bridging the gap between our energy present and our clean energy future.
Lloyd M. Yates is CEO and president of Progress Energy Carolinas, which serves 1.5 million households and businesses in North Carolina and South Carolina.
