Duke Energy has proposed the creation of innovative customer renewable programs and a major expansion of an existing one to allow South Carolina customers the option to supplement their power usage with 100% renewable power – a critical need for many businesses seeking to relocate or expand operations in the Palmetto State.
Renewable Choice – would allow large-load customers to contract with either of Duke Energy’s South Carolina utilities to provide locally sourced environmental attributes, including renewable energy certificates (REC), generated from both utility-owned generation assets as well as third-party owned generation assets and could include energy-storage options. This program is designed to meet the needs of the companies most advanced in their sustainability journey. If approved, South Carolina would have one of the first tariffed programs for time-aligned clean energy in the country.
Clean Energy Impact – is ideal for non-residential customers that want to claim a certain percentage of renewable energy through environmental attribute purchases in support of corporate sustainability goals, or for residential customers that would like to support the local renewable energy industry.
Proposed changes include the ability for customers to contract for up to 100% of their energy use compared to the current approximately 30%, as well as expanding the number of solar resources available to customers under the program. As with Renewable Choice, customers can also combine energy storage with their project – allowing them to align the production of renewable energy with their energy load.
Duke Energy, a Fortune 150 company headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., is one of America’s largest energy holding companies. Its electric utilities serve 8.2 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky, and collectively own 50,000 megawatts of energy capacity. Its natural gas unit serves 1.6 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Ohio, and Kentucky. The company employs 28,000 people.
Duke Energy is executing an aggressive clean energy transition to achieve its goals of net-zero methane emissions from its natural gas business and at least a 50% carbon reduction from electric generation by 2030 and net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. The 2050 net-zero goals also include Scope 2 and certain Scope 3 emissions. In addition, the company is investing in major electric grid enhancements and energy storage and exploring zero-emission power generation technologies such as hydrogen and advanced nuclear.