At least 60 Lake Norman neighbors have emailed state regulators urging them to reject Duke Energy’s plans for two natural gas turbines along their winding, tree-draped two-lane road in Catawba County.
Residents of Island Point Road in Sherrills Ford have been bombarding the North Carolina Utilities Commission with emails in recent months raising concerns about emissions, noise and construction traffic, according to an analysis of emails from the public in the case by the Charlotte Observer.
The proposed combustion turbines would replace two coal-fired units at Duke Energy’s Marshall Steam Station, which opened in 1965 as a coal-fired power plant along NC 150 in Lakeside Terrell.
The turbines would be on 20 acres of Marshall land, about 1.25 miles northeast of the coal-fired plants, company spokesman Bill Norton said. A natural gas pipeline used by the current plants would serve the turbines, he said. The current plants can operate by burning coal or natural gas to generate electricity.
The utility proposed the natural gas turbines in an update to its 2023 carbon dioxide emissions reduction plan, The (Raleigh) News & Observer previously reported.
Duke Energy says it needs the turbines to maintain reliability while eliminating coal generation, the N&O reported, while critics say the new turbines would also release unnecessary greenhouse gases.
Regulators from the NC Utilities Commission would have to approve a certificate of public utility and necessity for the turbines, and Duke would need an air quality permit from the NC Department of Environmental Quality.
Why here? residents ask
The turbines would generate power in a much cleaner and more efficient way than the two retired coal units, Norton said.
Nitrogen oxide emissions will be reduced by 82% and sulphur dioxide emissions by 92%, he said.
“Just as we did at the existing coal-fired power plant, we will use the best available technology to reduce emissions,” Norton said. “We will comply with all state and federal regulations to ensure surrounding neighbors and the environment remain protected.”
Duke Energy officials responded to residents’ concerns during a June 19 meeting of the Northview Harbor Homeowners Association. Northview Harbor is a 290-home community on Island Point Road, near the lake and the planned entrance to the proposed factory.
A map in a Duke Energy information sheet distributed to residents shows “the enormous amount of forested buffer remaining between the plant and the neighborhood,” Norton said.
Northview Harbor resident Joe Goode told The Charlotte Observer on Friday that he and his neighbors understand Duke Energy’s need to move away from coal. Like everyone else, he and his wife, Jodi, were fully aware of Marshall Steam Station when the couple moved to the subdivision four years ago, he said.
“We just didn’t expect this to be brought to our door,” the recent retiree said.
Take care of children
In her June 21 email to the NC Utilities Commission, Jodi Goode also mentioned another safety concern mentioned by many other residents in their emails: children.
Cars pass the traffic light at Sherrills Ford Road and Island Point Road every morning and afternoon as parents drop off and pick up their children at Sherrills Ford Elementary School, they said.
“Adding this Duke plant will make this intersection a dangerous nightmare to maneuver,” Jodi Goode said in her email. “Why they would put a plant that emits methane and nitrous oxide so close to a school and residents is unreasonable.”
Residents also expressed concerns about evacuation during a factory emergency. Their neighborhoods are farther up Island Point Road from the proposed factory entrance, and Island Point is a one-way, one-way street, they said. The road begins at Sherrills Ford Road and ends at the lake.
Danica Martens and Dustin Henis told the committee that they fear the peace in their Northview Harbor neighborhood “will not remain this way.”
Response to noise, concerns about evacuation
Traffic will increase during the plant’s construction, Norton said, but Duke will deliver the heaviest loads to the plant by rail and take other steps to reduce traffic.
“We will try to minimize traffic as much as possible,” Marshall Steam Station General Manager Jeff Flanagan said in an interview with the Observer on Wednesday.
Norton said that once the coal-fired power plant is decommissioned and demolished, “traffic at the plant will be lower than it is today, and we will no longer need to transport coal to the site by rail.”
The North Carolina Department of Transportation would have to approve access to the plant, he said.
“While the exact location has not yet been determined, wherever the final entrance is located, the company will install a turn lane to assist with traffic management,” Norton said.
Regarding concerns about evacuations, Norton said Duke is conducting environmental monitoring around Marshall “to ensure that neighbors and the environment are not negatively impacted by our activities.”
In response to residents’ concerns about the 24/7 noise from the turbines, Norton said the construction noise will be “comparable to the level of existing factory activity.”
According to Norton, Duke’s certificate of openness and necessity includes “an extensive, rigorous study with many data points.”
Company officials shared key findings from the investigation at the June 19 HOA meeting. He said: “Even the nearest neighbor of the proposed factory would hear only a small increase over the existing factory noise, and the noise will have no impact on human or animal health.”
Duke will also leave a “significant tree buffer” between neighbors and the plant, he said.
Energy production
The turbines would generate enough electricity — 850 megawatts — to power about 700,000 homes, Norton told The Charlotte Observer.
The Marshall coal units scheduled to be retired produce 760 megawatts, Norton said. The excess capacity from the turbines will contribute to “significant growth in the area,” he said.
The turbines will also be “the most efficient in our fleet,” Norton said, reaching full load in about 10 to 15 minutes, compared with 12 hours or more for the 60-year-old coal plants.
The turbines will allow Duke to better handle sudden drops in solar energy, including during unexpected thunderstorms that often occur in the summer, Norton said.
By replacing Marshall’s coal-fired power plants, “we also avoid more than 100,000 additional tons of coal ash per year that would otherwise have to be stored in the on-site landfill,” he said.
“We are committed to reinvesting in our coal communities, creating local jobs and creating a sustainable tax base for decades to come,” he said.
Business and government leaders want new factory
Along with Catawba County Manager Mary Furtado, leaders of the Catawba County Economic Development Corporation, The Chamber of Catawba County and Catawba Valley Community College sent letters of support for Duke Energy’s plans to the NC Utilities Commission.
On Feb. 5, Catawba County Commissioners a resolution adopted support the project.
Charlotte’s growth has led to a “boon of residential development” in Catawba County, wrote Scott Millar, president of the Catawba County Economic Development Corporation.
Duke’s plan “is extremely important to meeting the needs of our community’s continued economic and population growth,” Millar wrote.
Timetable for new factory
If the commission approves the project in the coming months, Duke plans to begin construction in late 2026 and have the units operational in 2028, Norton said.
That schedule would anticipate the planned retirement of Marshall Coal Units 1 and 2 by the end of 2028, he said.
“For reliability reasons, the new generation needs to be online and serving customers before the coal plants are retired,” Norton said.
NC Reality Check reflects The Charlotte Observer’s commitment to holding those in power accountable, shining a light on public issues that affect our local readers and illuminating the stories that make the Charlotte region and North Carolina stand out. Have a suggestion for a future story? Email realitycheck@charlotteobserver.com
