Evaluation of Duke Energy Carolina's Unit Commitment and Dispatch Practices at Coal-Fired Power Plants

Sierra Club
Project Completed June 2021

Devi Glick provided expert testimony on behalf of Southern Environmental Law Center and Sierra Club in the Fuel Charge Adjustment Proceeding filed by Duke Energy Carolinas (DEC). Ms. Glick's testimony evaluated DEC's unit commitment and dispatch practices at its coal-fired power plants. Her testimony demonstrated that the costs used by DEC to make its unit commitment decisions differ from those costs it sought to recover from customers and discusses how that discrepancy is driving uneconomic unit commitment decisions. Ms. Glick calculates excess costs that are passed on to ratepayers as result, and makes recommendations as to how DEC can improve the unit commitment process.