Duke Energy to Permanently Close Remaining North Carolina Ash Basins
January 02 2020 - 8:57AM
Dow Jones News
By Colin Kellaher
Duke Energy Corp. (DUK) on Thursday said it has reached an
agreement with regulators and community groups in North Carolina on
a plan for the permanent closure of its nine remaining coal ash
basins in the state.
The Charlotte utilities company said the plan, which relies
heavily on excavation and relocation of ash to lined landfills,
will reduce the total estimated cost to close the nine basins by
about $1.5 billion as compared with the state's order last
year.
Coal ash is a byproduct from coal-fired power plants, which
scrub potential air pollutants from their emissions. That ash can
contain arsenic, selenium, lead and mercury.
North Carolina regulators last April told Duke that it must
completely remove coal ash from all storage basins in the state,
rejecting the company's proposal to cover some ponds and leave that
ash in place. Duke had originally agreed to move coal ash from 22
of its 31 basins in the state to lined landfills but had proposed
capping nine basins that it viewed as structurally sound and posing
little threat to groundwater.
Under the new plan, Duke said it would excavate seven of the
remaining basins and move the ash to lined landfills. Duke said it
would also excavate uncapped ash at two of the basins, while ash
that is already covered by lined landfills won't be disturbed.
Duke estimates the total undiscounted cost to permanently close
all of its ash basins in North and South Carolina will be $8
billion to $9 billion, of which roughly $2.4 billion has been spent
through 2019.
The company said it expects to incur most of the remaining costs
over the next 15 to 20 years.
--Valerie Bauerlein contributed to this article.
Write to Colin Kellaher at colin.kellaher@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 02, 2020 08:42 ET (13:42 GMT)
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