Le Lézard
Classified in: Oil industry, Science and technology, Business
Subject: CON

Duke Energy reaches agreement with consumer groups on Edwardsport costs


PLAINFIELD, Ind., Sept. 21, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- If approved by state utility regulators, Duke Energy Indiana customers will pay $30 million less for costs at the company's Edwardsport coal gasification power plant due to an agreement with some of the state's consumer groups.

Duke Energy, the nation's largest electric utility, unveils its new logo. (PRNewsFoto/Duke Energy) (PRNewsfoto/Duke Energy)

The proposal, which was filed with state regulators today, is subject to Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission approval.

Participants in the agreement are the Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor, the Indiana Industrial Group representing Duke Energy's Indiana customers, and Nucor Steel-Indiana.

The agreement will remain in effect until new rates are established in the company's next base rate case, which is expected to be filed in mid-2019 with rates effective in mid-2020. It addresses the pending Edwardsport filing at the commission and eliminates the need for future filings until the overall rate case.

"If approved, this agreement saves customers money and provides rate certainty between now and our next base rate review," said Duke Energy Indiana President Melody Birmingham-Byrd. "Importantly, Edwardsport's performance has been strong, setting a record of 464 days of continuous net generation through April 2018."

Edwardsport is a dual-fuel plant that can run on coal and natural gas, and in 2017 it was available for service 99 percent of the time when factoring in both fuels.

Because of the agreement's provisions, Duke Energy expects to take a pretax charge of approximately $32 million in the third quarter of 2018.

Key provisions of the proposed settlement include:

Background on the Edwardsport project
The 618-megawatt Edwardsport plant uses state-of-the-art technology to gasify coal, strip out pollutants, and then burn that cleaner gas to produce electricity.

This advanced, integrated gasification combined cycle technology significantly improves plant efficiency. The plant began commercial operation in June 2013.

About Duke Energy
Duke Energy Indiana's operations provide about 6,700 megawatts of owned electric capacity to approximately 820,000 customers in a 23,000-square-mile service area, making it the state's largest electric supplier.

Duke Energy Indiana is a subsidiary of Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK).

Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., Duke Energy is one of the largest energy holding companies in the U.S., with approximately 29,000 employees and a generating capacity of 49,500 megawatts. The company is transforming its customers' experience, modernizing its energy grid, generating cleaner energy and expanding its natural gas infrastructure to create a smarter energy future for the people and communities it serves.

The company's Electric Utilities and Infrastructure unit serves approximately 7.6 million retail electric customers in six states ? North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky. Its Gas Utilities and Infrastructure unit distributes natural gas to approximately 1.6 million customers in five states ? North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Ohio and Kentucky. Its Commercial Renewables unit operates a growing renewable energy portfolio across the U.S.

A Fortune 125 company, Duke Energy was named to Fortune's 2018 "World's Most Admired Companies" list and Forbes' 2018 "America's Best Employers" list.

More information about the company is available at duke-energy.com. The Duke Energy News Center includes news releases, fact sheets, photos, videos and other materials. Duke Energy's illumination features stories about people, innovations, community topics and environmental issues. Follow Duke Energy on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.

Media Contact: Angeline Protogere
Office:317.838.1338; 24-Hour: 800.559.3853

Analyst Contact: Michael Callahan                                 
Office: 704.382.0459

SOURCE Duke Energy


These press releases may also interest you

at 13:55
FHL Vive Center for Enhanced Reality at the University of California, Berkeley, an engineering academic center devoted to research on Artificial Intelligence (AI), Virtual Reality (VR), and Augmented Reality (AR), announces its newest industry...

at 13:55
Tripleseat, the leading cloud-based sales and group bookings management platform for hotels, announced a new integration with hospitality cloud Mews that will help hotels streamline event bookings and planning. Tripleseat for Hotels'...

at 13:51
Devart just released an updated version of dbForge Studio for Oracle v4.6 and dbForge Edge v2.1. Oracle is currently the most popular database management system in the world, according to Statista, and Devart continues to improve and add features...

at 13:51
BRIJ Medical proudly welcomes three distinguished industry leaders to its Board of Directors: John Grotting, Bob Zollars, and Jim Hinrichs. Leveraging their extensive experience and insights, they will steer the company's strategic vision and drive...

at 13:45
The "Belgium Gift Card and Incentive Card Market Intelligence and Future Growth Dynamics (Databook) - Q1 2024 Update" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. Gift card industry in Belgium is expected to grow by 7.3% on annual...

at 13:44
UK-based market research consultancy Futuresource Consulting and Boston-based market research firm BCC Research have today announced a strategic merger of the two companies. The move will lay the foundations for an era of expansion and technological...



News published on and distributed by: