Many MindedRegulators in two states push back on utility gas build-outs
North Carolina regulators on Sept. 18, 2026 denied Duke Energy's request to build a 255-MW gas-fired combustion turbine at its Smith Energy Complex in Richmond County, estimated at $584 million. Duke said it needed the unit for expected large customers, especially data centers. Regulators cited uncertain load growth and cost. The op-ed authors say they also found too much risk on residential ratepayers and too little study of cheaper options such as batteries. In Minnesota, regulators told Minnesota Power, which proposed large amounts of new gas generation, to examine alternatives, including a wind, solar and storage scenario.
The column, published Oct. 30, 2026 by Hudson Kingston of CURE and Will Scott of Environmental Defense Fund, argues the incentives are skewed. Utilities earn profit on infrastructure built rather than energy sold, and can recover costs through rates before a plant operates, which encourages overbuilding. The authors also say Duke capped storage and solar in its modeling to justify gas, and that Minnesota's gas plans would conflict with the state's carbon-free standard.
For abundance, the point is who carries the cost. If speculative data-center demand justifies a plant and the demand never arrives, households pay for 30 years of an unneeded asset. The authors say new gas costs rose 66% and build times grew 23% between 2023 and 2025, while utilities' 2025 plans reached 24 GW, up 570% from 2023. They also cite a study finding batteries now cheaper than gas peakers globally. Closer review pushes cheaper options into the comparison.
Caveats: this is an opinion piece by advocates, not neutral reporting. The statistics and the Duke modeling claim are the authors' assertions, with sources only linked. The source text also cuts off mid-sentence. Watch whether other state commissions require storage and renewable alternatives before approving gas.
Source: Utility Dive