Duke Energy could receive $28.4 million in taxpayer money to upgrade two coal-fired power units in Person County, North Carolina, where residents are already contending with the construction of new natural gas plants, a pipeline and a proposed Microsoft data center.
The Roxboro plant in Person County is one of 13 projects nationwide expected to receive grant funding from the U.S. Department of Energy. The agency is invoking the Cold War-era Defense Production Act to fund the projects as critical to natural security, in the latest push by the Trump administration to boost the climate-damaging fossil fuel.
The utility will negotiate the terms of the grant with the agency over the next six months, according to the agreement, with an implementation date between 2027 to 2029. Duke is matching the federal money with $44 million in ratepayer funds.
Duke applied for the grant funding late last year to improve Units 2 and 3 through plant boiler fan, turbine and pulverizer projects, according to a utility spokesperson. The units are scheduled to burn coal until retiring Jan. 1, 2034.
“This funding supports previously planned critical upgrades that help ensure we can continue delivering reliable power to our North Carolina customers while keeping costs as low as possible,” said Kendal Bowman, president of Duke Energy’s utility operations in North Carolina, in a prepared statement.
