The 2014 plan included an estimate of $209 million for 8 projects. The modified projects for Duke Energy Progress and Duke Energy Carolinas in the 2015 Plan, relative to the 2014 Plan, include two Duke Energy Progress projects and one Duke Energy Carolinas project that were placed in service. In-service dates and cost estimates for some projects in the 2015 Plan that are planned or underway have been revised based on updated information.
The NCTPC was formed in 2005 to develop a shared plan for electric transmission system enhancements in the state. Participants include Duke Energy Carolinas ("DEC"), Duke Energy Progress ("DEP"), North Carolina Electric Membership Corporation ("NCEMC") and ElectriCities of North Carolina. Since its inception in 2005, projects totaling $945 million have been identified in the NCTPC plans, with $618 million placed into service through 2015, $128 million still in the planning stage, and another $199 million being deferred outside the planning horizon or cancelled as a result of changing system requirements.
The NCTPC was established to provide the participants and other stakeholders an opportunity to participate in the electric transmission planning process for North Carolina, and to develop a single coordinated transmission plan for North Carolina electric utilities that includes reliability and enhanced transmission access considerations. The group’s priority is to appropriately balance costs, benefits and risks associated with the use of transmission and generation resources.
The scope of the 2015 NCTPC Study included a base reliability analysis for transmission needs to meet load growth between 2015 and 2025. This year the NCTPC also performed analysis to evaluate various resource supply scenarios that modeled sixteen hypothetical transfers across the NCTPC interface with the neighboring systems. In addition, the NCTPC also analyzed two Local Economic Study Process scenarios proposed by stakeholders. The first scenario, submitted by Clean Line Energy, was an evaluation a 661 MW capacity transfer in the 2020 timeframe from the TVA Shelby 500 kV substation (north of Memphis) to DEC and DEP with the total allocated between each based on share of combined load. The second scenario, submitted by NCEMC, was an evaluation of forced outages of multiple nuclear units in DEC and DEP in the 2020 timeframe. Specifically, all Westinghouse 1980’s vintage nuclear units are to be outaged.
The major transmission projects identified in the 2015 Plan are expected to be implemented over the next 10-year planning period by the transmission owners to preserve system reliability and improve economic transfers. Major projects are defined as those requiring transmission investments of more than $10 million. These planned projects are subject to change based on evolving system conditions. The plan is updated annually.
"The goal of the NCTPC is to enhance planning of the Transmission System in North Carolina," said Edgar Bell of Duke Energy Carolinas, Chairman of the NCTPC Oversight/Steering Committee (OSC). "By having participating utilities and stakeholders work together in this forum we are able to ensure customers of North Carolina long-term access to an efficient and reliable electric system."
