Melissa Williams, melissa.williams@sierraclub.org
RALEIGH, N.C. — Duke Energy plans to retire a portion of its Allen Steam Station coal burning power plant at the end of next month, stating the unit isn’t economic or reliable.
In its filing, Duke notes that Allen Unit 3, which started operating in Gaston County in 1959, “has reached the end of its useful life” and “will no longer provide economic and reliable commercial service to customers.”
Unit 3 will be retired effective March 31, Duke’s filing states.
In response, Will Harlan, senior representative for the Beyond Coal campaign in the Carolinas, released the following statement:
“We applaud Duke’s decision to retire Allen Unit 3, which has been running since Eisenhower was in the White House, and a decade before astronauts first walked on the moon. We hope this is a signal of a larger effort to retire the rest of their uneconomic, polluting coal fleet and replace it with the clean, safe, affordable renewable energy customers have been demanding for years.”
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