Resolving a tense standoff over corporate climate commitments, Duke Energy has reached an agreement to supply North Carolina's expanding technology sector with 24/7 carbon-free pledges powered entirely by fossil fuels for the next twenty-six years.
The vertically integrated monopoly utility filed a proposal with state regulators Tuesday detailing a "bespoke sustainability pathway" for corporate clients operating massive data centers. Under the framework, technology companies will be permitted to publish highly designed net-zero sustainability reports, while Duke continues operating its natural gas and coal fleets exactly as it had planned to before the tech companies asked.
According to the regulatory filing, the utility's grid will reach full decarbonization by mid-century, ensuring that the artificial intelligence models currently mapping the collapse of the biosphere will have access to clean power just as the process becomes irreversible.
We understand our corporate partners have aggressive scope-two emission targets for the end of the decade, which is why we are committed to providing them with uninterrupted, baseload fossil generation until 2050.
To help clients achieve their immediate ESG milestones, Duke will offer an optional green tariff program. Tech giants can pay a slight premium on their monthly utility bills, which Duke will use to purchase renewable energy certificates from a solar array in a different time zone. The actual electrons flowing into the companies' server cooling systems will remain heavily carbon-intensive, drawn directly from the utility's legacy combustion plants.
The North Carolina Utilities Commission is expected to approve the arrangement ahead of the upcoming COP29 summit, allowing Duke to finalize a scheduled rate hike to cover the cost of expanding a coal ash pond located immediately downstream from the new data centers.