North Carolina Senate lawmakers passed a bill that would redefine "renewable energy" as "clean energy" to include nuclear and fusion.
Senate Bill 678, or the "Promote Clean Energy" bill, would specifically eliminate language impeding the issuance of certificates of public convenience and necessity for nuclear facilities as well as redefine and replace "renewable energy" with "clean energy."
The bill would also expand what the North Carolina Utilities Commission must consider when weighing new generation options, including energy efficiency measures, demand-side management, resource availability, maintenance and operating costs.
The bill passed the North Carolina Senate unanimously April 26 and was transferred to the House the following day.
The Republican-backed bill looks to primarily benefit Charlotte, NC-headquartered Duke Energy Corp. which operates in the Carolinas through utility subsidiaries Duke Energy Carolinas LLC and Duke Energy Progress LLC, according to an April 28 analysis from Guggenheim.
Duke Energy owns five nuclear plants, three in North Carolina and two in South Carolina, with a combined total capacity of about 9,300 MW, about 15.5% of its owned operating capacity, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data.
During an April 25 Senate Rules Committee hearing, state Sen. Paul Newton, a Republican and former Duke Energy executive, called the current statute "archaic," saying they create hurdles for nuclear development. The bill would also open North Carolina to fusion technology.
"The lowest-cost resources today are things like solar, wind, and battery storage," David Rogers, southeast regional director of the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal campaign, said at the hearing. "We should be investing in resources that are already mature and can be deployed quickly to lower emissions quickly ... That's one of the biggest concerns around nuclear — who's going to foot the bill?"
Advocacy organization the Environmental Working Group criticized the legislation, arguing that it could lead to billions of dollars spent on "unneeded" nuclear power plants rather than renewables. The group was particularly critical that the legislative effort was led by Newton.
"There is absolutely no reason for North Carolina and Duke to sink another dime into more nuclear power, now that renewables like solar, wind and battery storage are affordable and readily available options for utilities," Environmental Working Group President and co-founder Ken Cook said in an April 27 statement. "This legislation would take North Carolina backwards, just as the clean — and safe — energy revolution is taking hold in states across the country."
Duke in 2022 submitted a plan required under a 2021 state law, called H951, to show how the utility will reach net-zero emissions by 2050. That plan included the option to add small modular nuclear reactors to its fleet, though the technology remains untested at a commercial scale in the US. The North Carolina Utilities Commission ultimately approved the plan, though it did not choose a specific generation mix among those Duke proposed. That plan is set to be reviewed by state regulators every two years.
"This legislation helps to update older statutes to conform to H951 which we support and are working to implement," Duke spokesperson Jeff Brooks said in a statement April 28.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, issued an executive order last year to increase statewide climate goals by slashing greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030 compared to 2005 levels and reaching net-zero emissions "as soon as possible," but no later than 2050.
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