Duke Energy, Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Nucor to co-develop new clean tech tariffs

Duke Energy, Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Nucor have signed memorandums of understanding (MoUs) to develop Accelerating Clean Energy (ACE) tariffs to lower long-term costs of investing in clean energy technology.

The proposed tariffs would enable large customers of Duke Energy, such as Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Nucor, to directly support carbon-free energy generation investments through innovative financing structures and contributions that address project risk to lower costs of emerging technologies.

In a release, Duke Energy – which provides electricity to 7.7 million retail customers in North and South Carolina, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and Florida – said the tariffs would facilitate beneficial on-site generation at customer facilities, participation in load flexibility programmes and investments in clean energy assets – all of which are attractive to customers with large-scale energy needs.

According to Duke Energy, their five-year capital plan will continue as planned and these tariffs would be subject to regulatory approvals in North Carolina and South Carolina.

Commenting in a release, Lon Huber, Duke Energy’s SVP of pricing and customer solutions, said: “In this new era of large-scale energy demand, Duke Energy is committed to working with our regulators and customers to find innovative and responsible ways to satisfy the growing need for more and cleaner energy.

“With the help of companies like Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Nucor we can accelerate our service of large customer needs and the transition to cleaner energy, while reducing financial risks and supporting economic development in our communities.”

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Added Kevin Miller, Amazon Web Services’ vice president of Global Data Centres: “As the world’s largest corporate purchaser of renewable energy, Amazon is committed to enabling new sources of carbon-free energy to help power our operations and the communities where our customers live and work.

“With a footprint of data centres, fulfilment centres and corporate buildings across Ohio, the Carolinas and Florida, we’re excited to collaborate with Duke Energy to find new solutions that can help us achieve our Climate Pledge to be net zero carbon by 2040, and today’s agreement marks an important step in that journey.”

The ACE framework would also include a Clean Transition Tariff (CTT) – the key feature enabling Duke Energy to provide individualised portfolios of new carbon-free energy to commercial and industrial customers.

The CTT would match clean-energy generation and customer load to accelerate overall grid decarbonisation. This would be a voluntary programme for larger customers seeking to advance their clean energy goals, and it would include protections for non-participating customers.

Said Jeff Riles, Microsoft’s director of datacentre energy and sustainability: “Microsoft’s aim is to advance groundbreaking solutions that support the energy transition. Innovative frameworks such as this agreement with Duke Energy support Microsoft’s ambition to have 100% of our electricity consumption, 100% of the time, matched by zero carbon energy purchases.

“We are committed to creating a more sustainable future as we actively work to add more clean energy to the grid.”

Originally published on powerengineeringint.com