Two Southern utilities will close nearly 20 GW of coal-fired capacity by 2035 with plans to make huge investments in renewable energy projects to replace the power shortfall.
Duke Energy will close 11 coal-fired plants 13 years earlier than previously announced and has budgeted $63 billion in capital expenditures over the next five years, with 80%, about $52 billion, “toward our clean energy transition,” Chairman and CEO Lynn Good told analysts in a Feb. 10 quarterly results call. “We’re executing the largest planned coal-fleet retirement in our industry, targeting energy from coal to represent less than 5% by 2030 and a full exit by 2035,” she said.