Duke Energy spokesman Bill Norton talks about the future of Belews Creek power plant
The Triad remains home to North Carolina's largest single source of climate-warming pollution, according to recently reported federal data, but the owner and operator of that facility insists the ranking is misleading.
In 2023, Duke Energy's Belews Creek Steam Station in Stokes County released nearly 5.6 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reported in its nationwide annual accounting of emissions from large facilities.
Heat-trapping carbon dioxide is the leading human-caused contributor to climate change.
The Belews Creek facility's 2023 figures also landed it among the top 50 greenhouse-gas polluters nationally, according to the EPA.
Annual carbon emissions at the 50-year-old plant, just north of the Forsyth County line, are equal to what would be released in a year by 1.3 million typical gas-powered vehicles, according to the EPA.
In all, power plants accounted for North Carolina's 14 biggest climate-impacting polluters, including Duke's Triad-area operations in Eden (1.5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide) and Reidsville (456,000 metric tons).
Statewide, the generation of electricity amounts for about one-third of greenhouse-gas emissions, second only to the transportation sector, according to the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality.
Emissions at the Belews Creek facility remain especially high because Duke produces power there by burning a combination of coal and natural gas.
Duke says gas combustion generates about 40% less carbon dioxide at the plant than coal, but accounts for just half of peak capacity. That means coal remains a significant factor - and polluter - particularly when demand is high.
However, analyzing the pollution figures without considering energy production capacity is misleading, Duke insists.
"That report is flawed," company spokesman Ben Williamson said of the EPA's data. "It lists total reported emissions without considering plant size or efficiency, which fails to provide an accurate picture."
Belews Creek is "one of the cleanest and most efficient coal plants in the U.S." because it burns less coal "to achieve the same energy output as other plants," Williamson added.
'Years of additional pollution exposure'
But critics counter that such an analysis reinforces what they consider Duke's over-reliance on coal - and a perceived lack of urgency by the N.C. Utilities Commission (NCUC) in its timeline for the company's shuttering of coal-powered plants.
"Under Duke Energy's Carbon Plan, the ... utility plans to operate its polluting coal-fired power plants at Belews Creek for years past the economically optimal retirement date," argued David Neal, senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center.
SELC was one of several groups that opposed Duke's latest roadmap for future power generation, which ultimately was approved by the NCUC on Nov. 1.
Duke plans to continue some coal-fired power generation at Belews Creek until 2036 while it pursues development at the site of what could be North Carolina's first new nuclear power plant in more than 35 years.
"This delay will result in years of additional pollution exposure for North Carolinians and risks further delays in hitting the carbon emissions reduction requirements under North Carolina law," the SELC's Neal contended. "Duke Energy's plan is extremely risky for its captive ratepayers, who will be stuck with the expense of operating these dirty coal plants until this new, speculative technology is market-ready - a timeframe completely out of Duke's hands."
The SELC and other critics argue that Duke should shift more aggressively to emission-free solar, wind energy and battery storage while the utility argues that fossil fuels - particularly natural gas - offer a reliable, largely uninterrupted interim source of energy when the sun doesn't shine and winds are calm.
In addition to adding solar, wind and storage in coming years, Duke says it's "pursuing the development" of 900 megawatts of additional natural gas capacity by 2030 while it works to retire all 8,000 megawatts of coal-fired production by 2036.
Other Triad contributors
While their greenhouse-gas emissions are far lower than those of the state's largest power plants, more than a half-dozen other Triad facilities made the EPA's annual list:
Forsyth County
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company Whitaker Park manufacturing complex in northern Winston-Salem released nearly 300,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2023 - the equivalent of what would be produced in a year by 70,000 typical gas-powered vehicles, according to the EPA.Ingredion Inc.: 26,390
Guilford County
Evonik Superabsorber: 36,505
Davidson County
Owens-Brockway Glass Container Inc.: 48,909Egger Wood Products: 45,140Electric Glass Fiber America: 26,335
Randolph County
Starpet Inc.: 34,498
John Deem is senior reporter for the Greensboro News & Record and the Winston-Salem Journal. Contact him at [email protected]
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