"The 255-MW plant in North Carolina was meant to help meet data center demand. Regulators took the rare step of rejecting the permit amid a growing national backlash."
"North Carolina regulators on Friday rejected a bid from Duke Energy to build a gas power plant — a rare denial from a panel that frequently defers to the state’s predominant utility.
Duke first proposed the 255-megawatt facility in Richmond County last fall. Designed to produce electricity when the grid is strained, the plant was slated to become the eighth smokestack at a power station near the South Carolina border. The single-cycle combustion turbine is part of the company’s long-term plan to meet skyrocketing energy demand, mostly from data centers.
The state’s Utilities Commission has repeatedly approved Duke’s general plan for a massive buildout of fossil fuel infrastructure. But the panel must also grant permits for specific plants, and its 23-page order said such a license was premature — with data center growth too uncertain and the risk to consumers too great to justify a greenlight now for the half-billion-dollar facility."
Elizabeth Ouzts reports for Canary Media September 21, 2026.
