BELMONT, N.C. — For the first time since 2020, a coal-fired power plant is closing down in North Carolina.
The Allen Steam Station, which is set to retire at the end of 2024, has been generating power for the Charlotte area since 1957, however, in recent years it has slowed down, serving more during peak power periods rather than as a “baseload” power plant.
It’s the first in a series of coal-power retirements set out in Duke Energy’s Integrated Resource Plan, which lays out the utility’s plan for meeting North Carolina’s mandated emissions goals. Duke Energy must reduce its emissions by 70% of 2005 levels and be operating at net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. As a part of that plan, all of Duke’s remaining coal-fired plants will retire or convert entirely to natural gas by the end of 2035.
Before retirement, however, Duke Energy must build replacement generation to keep the power grid stable.
“At some retiring coal plants, we’re building nuclear, at some we’re building natural gas,” Duke …