Progress Energy has told the North Carolina Utilities Commission that stagnant demand growth was leading it to reconsider whether to add new units to its Shearon Harris nuclear plant, the Raleigh News & Observer reported. The utility, which presented its annual 15-year energy outlook to the agency, proposed taking a 25-percent stake in a two-unit plant built somewhere in the region.
James McLawhorn, head of power at North Carolina's Public Staff, noted the financial risk involved in building such a plant, and said "all the utilities are interested in some type of regional ownership to spread the cost and risk of building these units." Progress Energy was now forecasting 18-percent demand growth over 15 years and an associated need for 550 MW of new nuclear power. Utility spokesman Mike Hughes was quoted as saying of the change: "It is no means an about-face on our nuclear strategy. Based on what we know right now, this is our best estimate on what nuclear will be added and when."
Raleigh (N.C.) News & Observer, Sept. 16.
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