Duke Energy reaches important milestones in solar energy development in Carolinas

Duke Energy achieved two major agreements related to the development of solar energy in the Carolinas.

First, Duke Energy struck an agreement with most of the major solar industry developers in North Carolina and South Carolina for a defined process and timeline by which a substantial additional amount of solar generation will be interconnected to the Duke Energy distribution system. Several hundred megawatts (MW) of solar energy will be targeted for completion in 2021 and 2022.

The parties also agreed to resolve several interconnection disputes. The parties have filed notice of the settlement with the N.C. Utilities Commission (NCUC) and the Public Service Commission of S.C. (SCPSC) requesting regulatory approval of certain limited waivers necessary to implement the agreement.

“These agreements continue to advance renewable energy in the Carolinas,” Stephen De May, Duke Energy’s North Carolina president, said. “Collaborative engagement was key to taking this important step forward.”

Steve Levitas, senior vice president for Strategic Initiatives at Pine Gate Renewables in Asheville, N.C., said his company is pleased to have reached this agreement.

It took a lot of hard work, creativity, and good faith by both sides,” Levitas said. “We look forward to continuing to work with Duke to meet the need for clean energy resources in the Carolinas.

The second major agreement saw Duke Energy reach a resolution with the North Carolina Clean Energy Business Alliance and the North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association to implement a change to the interconnection process. The change – commonly referred to as “queue reform” – transitions the interconnection process from analyzing each request one by one to a more efficient process of studying interconnection requests in clusters. The cluster study method has been adopted by several states and throughout the nation and provides a more predictable path to interconnection.

The new process should eliminate the backlog that was created when “ready” projects were delayed while the utility studied sometimes speculative projects that were in a higher spot in the utility interconnection queue, officials said.

Implementation of queue reform will require approval from both the NCUC and SCPSC as well as the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Duke Energy has more than 3,500 MW of solar capacity connected to its energy grid in the Carolinas. North Carolina ranks second in the nation for overall solar power, and the region is one of the fastest-growing solar power areas of the country.