Progress goes more 'green,' to shut down more coal-fired power plants
Progress Chairman and CEO Bill Johnson
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RALEIGH, N.C. - Progress Energy (NYSE: PGN) said Tuesday it will shut down three more coal-fired power plant facilities by 2017 and will build more natural gas-fired plants in the future as it tries to go more “green” with its power.
The plants to be closed are not equipped with “scrubbers” that remove pollutants. Progress said to add the high-tech gear would be prohibitively expensive.
Progress announced its plans in a filing with the North Carolina Utilities Commission.
The facilities affected are near Wilmington, Moncure and Lumberton, affecting a total of 11 units.
Coupled with the recent decision to close a similar plant near Goldsboro, Progress said it is reducing its coal-fired production capability by nearly 30 percent.
The Utilities Commission has already approved a new gas-fired plant at the Goldsboro site.
“This is a significant commitment to clean air in our state and a major down-payment on our company’s carbon-reduction strategy,” said Bill Johnson, chairman and chief executive officer at Progress. “Within seven years, we expect to retire nearly one-third of our coal fleet in North Carolina. We are aggressively pursuing a balanced solution for meeting future energy needs, including clean technologies and energy efficiency while continuing to ensure that electricity remains available and reliable 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for the 1.5 million households and businesses that depend on us.”
Progress pointed out that it had spent some $2 billion in fitting “scrubbers” at three other coal-fired facilities.
The company also said changes in regulations and laws in the future could alter its strategy.
“Resource planning is a continuous process,” the company said in its announcement. “The plans outlined today are based on certain assumptions about anticipated environmental requirements. Should those assumptions change, the utility’s plans might also change.”
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