North Carolina’s environmental agency has ordered Duke Energy to install monitoring wells in a residential neighborhood outside Asheville to determine whether toxic chemicals from the company’s coal ash pits are contaminating homeowners’ drinking water, according to a new report by the Associated Press.
Tag: Duke Energy
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N.C. officials order Duke Energy to address piping systems at coal-ash plants
No leaks have been discovered at Duke Energy’s Asheville plant, which runs on coal — like the one on the Dan River where a broken pipe released thousands of gallons of coal ash. But the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources has ordered the company to provide its engineer’s assessment, saying that “portions of […]
Spring brings increased risk of ozone danger
As spring weather returns to Asheville, so does the risk of dangerous levels of ozone pollution. To raise awareness and help notify the public when ozone levels become hazardous, environmental agencies will start issuing daily air quality forecasts Tuesday, April 1, for Asheville and other metropolitan areas across the state.
WNC’s Sierra Club addresses the importance of going ‘Beyond Coal’ at CIBO meeting
Kelly Martin of the Western North Carolina Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal initiative spoke at the Council of Independent Business Owners’ Friday, Feb. 7, meeting to address future goals and investments that could help wean the region off coal energy dependency.
Beyond Coal: Rally against Duke Energy plant brings out environmentalists, TV vampire
A few hundred people rallied under clear blue skies in Pack Square Park Saturday afternoon to call on Duke Energy to shutter its Asheville coal plant and advocate for clean energy. The event, called “Beyond Coal: A Rally for Our Future,” featured local speakers, singers and popular TV actor/vampire Ian Somerhalder. [Photo gallery at the bottom.]
Local public hearing on Progress Energy rate hikes set for March 5
The North Carolina Utilities Commission wants to hear from you: On Tuesday, March 5, the commission will hold a local public hearing on Progress Energy Carolinas’ request to raise residential, commercial and industrial electricity rates by an average of 12 percent.
Photos: Rally against Duke Energy
Nearly 100 area residents gathered in Pritchard Park Saturday to call on Duke Energy “to include more clean energy in [its] 2013 Integrated Resource Plan.” Some also protest what they say are unfair rate hikes by Duke Energy.
CWNC to host rally opposing Duke Energy rate increase
CWNC will host a rate-hike rally in Pritchard Park this Saturday, Jan. 26, in opposition to Duke Energy’s plan to raise utility rates by 18 percent.
News in review: Pub cycles, merger money, District 2 and rate hikes
The most-viewed news at mountainx.com this past week: A roundup of Asheville City Council’s Dec. 11 actions, which included approving pub cycles and reviewing the city’s study of the possible merger of the water system with the Metropolitan Sewerage District.
Float beyond coal protest at Lake Julian
Around 70 people in a variety of oar-powered boats took to the waters of Lake Julian to protest the continued use of coal at the Arden power plant. (photo by Bill Rhodes)
Greenpeace hoists “stop destroying mountains” banner at local Progress Energy plant
Greenpeace activists supplied this shot of their morning mission to climb a coal-supply ramp and hoist a banner calling for Progress and Duke Energy to “stop destroying mountains.”
$228 a year to Duke Energy is OK, but $45 to A-B Tech is not?
Asheville, let’s use our powers for good! Duke Energy wants to raise the rates for homeowners and businesses by about $19 for every 1,000 kilowatt-hours. Let’s look at other numbers. The monthly energy usage of a large place of worship is 83,000 kHw and a small business is 41,000 kwh. This would account for an […]
Duke, Progress Energy will converge to become nation’s largest utility
The two power companies will merge, retaining Duke’s name. The merger — if approved by state and federal regulatory agencies later this year — brings 7.1 million customers into the fold for one company.
The Green Scene
Go to Wikipedia’s “civil disobedience” entry and you come face to face with a portrait of Gandhi, who helped India win independence from Great Britain. You’ll also read about Henry David Thoreau, who refused to pay his taxes to protest the Mexican War. There’s mention of Rosa Parks and the civil rights movement as well. […]
Get smart: New energy-grid pilot planned in Charlotte
Duke Energy Carolinas has received an OK from state regulators to try a “smart-grid” pilot in Charlotte, aimed at reducing energy consumption.
The Green Scene
When Charles Dickens published works such as A Christmas Carol and Hard Times in the mid-1800s, coal loomed large among the world’s energy sources. The smokestacks in Dickens’ tales belched black, toxic smoke. That smoke may be gone or at least reduced today, thanks to better filtering and monitoring. But we still rely on coal, […]
Figures change for Duke Energy projects
Duke Energy Carolinas has increased the expected capacity of its Cliffside power plant and nearly doubled the anticipated construction costs of its Lee Nuclear Station.
Duke Energy’s Cliffside power plant
Duke Energy Corp. is building an 800-megawatt coal-burning power plant in Rutherford County. Environmentalists have opposed the plant, and on July 16, 2008, the Southern Environmental Law Center filed a lawsuit in federal court in Asheville aiming to halt construction at the Cliffside Steam Station. The organization contends that Duke Energy doesn’t have a valid […]
Duke told to scrub harder at Cliffside
State regulators have upped the ante on pollution controls at Duke Energy’s coal-burning Cliffside power plant in Rutherford County, where construction began in January.
How much is that nuclear plant in the window?
N.C. regulators decide that the public will be kept in the dark on cost estimates for Duke Energy’s proposed nuclear-power plant near the WNC/South Carolina border.