By Bruce Henderson
bhenderson@charlotteobserver.com
Posted: Thursday, Nov. 05, 2009
The N.C. Utilities Commission on Wednesday denied environmentalists’ move to stop the expansion of Duke Energy’s Cliffside coal-fired power plant west of Charlotte.
The N.C. Waste Awareness and Reduction Network had asked the commission to revoke its approval of the 800-megawatt expansion, called a certificate of public convenience and necessity, that was granted in 2007.
“The decision reaffirms that Cliffside is needed so we can continue to provide our customers” with electricity, said Duke spokesman Jason Walls.
With the ruling, the only remaining challenges to Cliffside are before a state administrative court. A federal lawsuit filed by environmental groups to stop or modify the expansion was dismissed earlier this year.
Before the utilities commission, WARN claimed that completing the project was no longer in the public interest. The need for the expansion, it said, is based on Duke’s potential sales of wholesale power, not the electricity demands of its Carolinas retail customers.
Duke argued that there was no legal basis to revoke the certificate. Despite slumping demand for electricity, it said, the Cliffside expansion is still needed.
The utility commission’s Public Staff, which advocates for customers, sided with Duke.
In denying the WARN motion Wednesday, the commission found there is a continued need for baseload power generation – the workhorse electricity producers such as coal-fired plants. It noted that Duke had already invested $1.1 billion, through 2008, of the $1.8 billion construction budget.
WARN executive director Jim Warren said the group has not decided whether to appeal.
Developers are planning a new eco-friendly development in Kannapolis, meant to serve as a gateway to the N.C. Research Campus.
The 32-acre, $35 million Research Commerce Park will feature 275,000 square feet of commercial space, including a convenience store, office buildings and two hotels.
DPE Investments of Charlotte created a master plan for the site, near Interstate 85’s exit 63, with Kannapolis and Concord officials and the LandTrust for Central North Carolina. DPE swapped 62 acres of land – to be permanently protected from development – to the city of Concord in exchange for 17 acres it will use for part of the commercial park.
The plan for the park includes three ponds and a 300-foot buffer from Lake Fisher. Buildings will feature natural and recycled materials.
“This is very positive for the area,” said Doug Ehmann of DPE Investments. “It provides economic development for Kannapolis, watershed protection for Concord and a conservation easement for the state. It is a win-win-win situation.”
Ehmann plans to break ground on the project next year and finish three or four years later.
By Bruce Henderson
bhenderson@charlotteobserver.com
Posted: Monday, Jul. 06, 2009
Duke Energy will build a new wind farm in Colorado, the company said today as it closed on its acquisition of a wind project in Pennsylvania.
Duke will develop the 51-megawatt Kit Carson Windpower Project on 6,000 acres near Burlington, Colo. The power will supply 44 electric cooperatives under a 20-year purchase agreement with the Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association.
The 34 wind turbines will begin spinning in late 2010. It will be Duke’s first wind project in Colorado, but the company has three farms operating or under construction in Wyoming.
Duke closed today on its first wind project in the East, the 70-megawatt North Allegheny Windpower Project 95 miles east of Pittsburgh. Duke bought the project, to start operating later this year, from turbine maker and developer Gamesa Energy USA.
Duke has more than 500 megawatts of wind generation in operation, and another 5,000 megawatts in potential development projects
As builders and remodelers retool their businesses in a tight credit market and recapture the interest of jittery consumers, this spring is the greenest yet for the nation’s home building industry, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). More than 3,100 builders, remodelers, designers and others in the home building business have earned the Certified Green Professional educational designation. Based on the successful completion of 24 hours of instruction, industry experience and commitment to continuing education, the designation provides consumers with confidence in the qualifications of credentialed professionals, Robson said.
More than 200 single-family homes, remodeling projects and developments in 43 states have received National Green Building Certification, with another 300-plus scheduled for inspections.
-RealTrends
The new North Carolina Budget eliminates most of the Renewable Energy and sustainable manufacturing TAX CREDITS. This would hurt the state with new jobs, new business starts ups and ultimately the sale of real estate.
Triangle Home Builders Win Again
2010 National Green Building Conference to be held in Raleigh
For the third year in a row, the Green Home Builders of the Triangle
(GHBT) program has received an Honorable Mention in the category of Program of the Year during the awards ceremony at the NAHB’s National Green Building Conference in Dallas, TX. It was an exciting event this year, with T. Boone Pickens as the keynote speaker at the awards dinner. Several NC green home builders attended the ceremony.
And, mark your calendar now for next year’s National Green Building Conference, which will be held in Raleigh on May 16-18, 2010. As hosts of the conference, GHBT wants to be sure that attendees receive a great, North Carolina-style welcome – and that they have the chance to see all of the fantastic things happening with green building in North Carolina.
NCSEA plans to release the 2009 Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency Industry Census later this year, which is expected to show significant growth in the green/high performance building sector of the North Carolina economy. Click here to view the 2008 Industry Census.
Excerpt from the NCSEA newsletter:
Solar 2009 is happening this week in sunny Buffalo, New York. The American Solar Energy Society is expecting record attendance, including dozens of business leaders and technical experts from North Carolina. NCSEA has been working with the ASES team in an effort to bring this national solar conference to downtown Raleigh, NC in 2011. We expect to hear the final decision on site selection very soon, so stay tuned!
The opening plenary at this week’s conference featured a map of leading US states in the solar market. For the first time, NC has broken into the top 10. Several national solar firms place NC in their top six state markets. The conference opened with a strategic look at the industry from General Electric, Applied Materials and SunEdison founder Jigar Shah. It was clear from their presentations that NC has finally broken into the leadership ranks of the US solar market, and is poised to grow our existing solar firms and recruit new solar component manufacturers into the state.
Solar thermal hot water industry players were enthusiastic about the potential for NC’s solar thermal Renewable Energy Certificates market. Several experts stressed to NCSEA staff that if the NC Utilities Commission implements an online exchange to buy and sell renewable energy RECs, including solar thermal hot water, NC could quickly become one of the top 5 US state markets for solar thermal hot water, which could significantly reduce our state’s need for new coal and nuclear power plants. Also, several presenters on Tuesday and Wednesday stressed that while NC recently improved our Net Metering rules, they are still inadequate to drive solar and distributed generation market development in NC.
On Tuesday, NCSEA Executive Director Ivan Urlaub delivered two training presentations for over 40 state solar organizations, as part of ASES’ ongoing effort to strengthen the solar community nationwide. Urlaub gained insights into improving NCSEA while providing one-on-one mentoring for new Executive Directors and Board Directors of several state-level solar organizations struggling with change management and rapid growth opportunities. On Wednesday, Solar Nation and ASES announced they joined forces to bring the solar grassroots community, solar installers, and solar experts under one roof to increase the public’s energy literacy and use of cost-effective solar solutions.
NCSEA members Dr. Thomas Henkel, Rusty Haynes and Laurel Varnado presented papers and moderated panels on topics ranging from “Community Net Energy Metering” to “Solar-Driven 2E Absorption Chillers.”
Wind Energy is sometimes clouded by its bright, hot cousin, the sun. Especially when you are talking about residential supply. You don’t see wind mills on roofs or in backyards. But with the future looking green, NC seems poised to be a major contributor to this industry. Below is from the NCSEA newsletter:
Nearly a dozen North Carolina companies exhibited at WINDPOWER 2009, the annual wind energy conference organized by the American Wind Energy Association. During the three-day event, this diverse mix of NC companies and NCSEA staff gained exposure to over 23,000 attendees, which was up from 13,000 in 2008.
The presence of NC companies at WINDPOWER 2009 is notable for two reasons. First, the companies demonstrate the broad range of employment opportunities across the industry. Beyond the construction and operation of wind energy facilities, a large number of jobs are related to providing goods and services to the industry. Even more important, the presence of NC firms reveals that companies with headquarters or manufacturing facilities in our state can contribute these goods and services, even if the majority of the installations are occurring in other regions of the country.
NC’s limited presence in the industry – and its lack of utility-scale installations – could change with the strong national interest demonstrated by the federal government and the private sector. During the conference, the US Department of Energy (DOE) awarded approximately $100,000 in grant funding to the NC Solar Center, in partnership with Appalachian State University and NCSEA, to advance wind energy implementation in North Carolina.
In addition, the DOE Wind Powering America program, which works to address market barriers to wind energy development, ranks NC as a priority state (see map above) and provides valuable support to state stakeholders. In the private sector, a number of wind developers are prospecting potential sites in eastern and western NC. Further, the American Wind Energy Association has identified NC as one of the Southeastern states that could contribute significantly to the industry by manufacturing wind turbine components.
For further information about wind energy in North Carolina, please contact Paul Quinlan at paul@energync.org or (919) 832-7601, ext. 105.
May 27, 2009 (8:30am-5:00pm) – Early Registration Closes on May 19th
Charlotte, NC – Hosted by Trane
This workshop provides essential knowledge of the LEED Rating Systems and sustainable building concepts for those seeking a better understanding of LEED or pursuing GBCI’s New LEED Green Associate (Tier I) credential. By presenting LEED concepts at the credit category level – across building types and rating systems – and basics on the building certification process, this workshop provides the foundation required for any 300-level LEED education offering. Real project examples help demonstrate and reinforce learning.
We also have upcoming:
300 Level LEED for Schools Technical Review on June 24, 2009 in Charlotte…
300 Level LEED for Existing Buildings, Operations and Maintenance Technical Review on July 22, 2009 in Charlotte…
For inquiries on registration, email workshop@usgbc.org or call 800-795-1747
Congress is considering developing an energy rating and labeling system where every home and building in America is assigned a number between 1 and 100 based on energy usage. The goal is for buyers to start using these numbers in making property buying decisions. What do you think? NAR is taking a stance but before I reveal it I want to know what you think.
Wind Energy is sometimes clouded by its bright, hot cousin, the sun. Especially when you are talking about residential supply. You don’t see wind mills on roofs or in backyards. But with the future looking green, NC seems poised to be a major contributor to this industry. Below is from the NCSEA newsletter:
