Duke Energy on Oct. 1 filed its long-range plan for its system in the Carolinas with the North Carolina Utilities Commission, calling for more natural gas-fired generation and batteries while keeping existing coal plants online to meet accelerated demand for electricity.

The 2025 Carolinas Resource Plan reflects the $19 billion in investments, representing 25,000 jobs, the states have attracted so far this year, most of which are from new manufacturing plants.

“North Carolina is the top state for business, and our focus is on ensuring Duke Energy’s low energy rates continue to support this region’s economic success,” Duke Energy North Carolina President Kendal Bowman said in prepared remarks. “By expanding our diverse generation portfolio and maximizing our existing power plants to meet growth needs, we will ensure reliable energy while saving all our customers money.”

Duke said its plan should lead to average power bills growing by 2.1% over the next decade, which is below expected inflation and lower than the previously approved resources plan filed in 2023.

Customer energy needs over the next 15 years are forecast to grow at eight times that of the last decade-and-a-half, double the rate Duke was expecting in 2023.

Duke has a 22% reserve margin target that it plans to meet by 2031, but it said it is continuing to re-evaluate that in light of growing demand, declining imports from neighboring systems and the risk of extreme temperatures going forward.

“To meet the 22% reserve margin necessary for system operators to have the resources they need in real time, the companies must continue their immediate buildout of available resources to meet the increasing need for capacity driven by growing loads and retiring coal generation,” Duke said in testimony at the NCUC. “New gas combustion turbines and combined cycle units, battery storage and solar are the resource types that are executable over the near term to put flexible megawatts into the hands of our system operators.”

As in 2023, Duke plans to build five combined cycle natural gas power plants, but it now also plans to build seven combustion turbine gas plants, up from five in the last plan. It also wants to build more LNG storage to cut fuel costs and hedge against price volatility.

The target for battery storage was also expanded in the plan — 5,600 MW by 2034, up from 2,900 MW in the 2023 iteration — which will help meet near-term growth and use federal tax credits, the company said.

The plan calls for 4,000 MW of new solar power by 2034, to be deployed in a way that maximizes customer benefits from the remaining federal energy tax credits.

Expanding nuclear power is being considered, with Duke evaluating the potential for new light-water reactors in addition to small modular reactors. New nuclear capacity could be up and running by 2037 at its Belews Creek plant in North Carolina or its Cherokee County plant in South Carolina.

Wind is not an economically viable resource for the Carolinas through 2040, though Duke said it would reassess that in 2027.

With the federal government easing regulations on coal, Duke said it is targeting two- to four-year extensions of its units that have dual-fuel capability (the Belews Creek, Cliffside and Marshall plants), as it said a few more years of operation would help deal with load growth. Over the long term, Duke said it was maintaining “an orderly exit from coal as approved by state regulators.”

The utility is working to expand capacity at existing plants, adding nearly 300 MW to the grid at four nuclear stations, expanding its Bad Creek pumped storage plants by an additional 280 MW and upgrading seven other hydro facilities. It also plans to upgrade its natural gas fleet in ways that cut costs and emissions, it said.

The proposed plan came under criticism from the Southern Environmental Law Center, the Sierra Club and Vote Solar, which are active in the proceeding before the NCUC. The plan comes after a new North Carolina law that eliminated the state’s interim carbon-reduction target of 70% by 2030. The groups argue the plan risks higher bills by backing new natural gas and unproven new technologies. (See Duke Highlights Legislative Wins in Q2 Earnings Call.)

“We’re concerned that regulated monopoly Duke Energy is continuing to rely on expensive new gas power plants, leaving North Carolina families on the hook for escalating fuel costs and making it harder to reach the 2050 carbon-neutrality requirement,” SELC Senior Attorney David Neal said in a statement. “Duke yet again appears to have fallen short of taking full advantage of energy efficiency, load flexibility, renewables and storage, which remain the cheapest and fastest suite of options for meeting rising demand.”

Parties have 180 days to file comments and critiques on the plan with the NCUC, which will hold public hearings and an evidentiary hearing as it weighs the merits of Duke’s filing.