Mayo and Roxboro plants ARE coal fired. Dan River used to be, but the 1948 vintage coal plant was demolished five years ago and they built a the Dan River Combined-Cycle Station (natural gas) on the same site. Mayo and Roxboro are indoor plants that normally don’t suffer from freezing weather. The problems were probably in the outdoor coal handling areas.
What I don’t get is Duke knows how to run in cold weather and has done so for 100 years.
The power industry has been brow-beaten, excoriated and besmirched by radical greens for decades now and, as a result, engineers just do not want to work in the power industry. If they do, they want to build windmills, solar cells, and batteries. The average age of workers in coal plants is really old. The vast well of experience operating the plants is drying up.
I think the loss of expertise may be what’s at work here.
Whatever it is, it’s affected TVA too. We had rolling blackouts during the freeze when we never had that before. During heavy ice storms yes, but just cold, never.
Whatever it is, it’s systematic.
“What I don’t get is Duke knows how to run in cold weather and has done so for 100 years.”
The current CEO of Duke Energy, Lynn Good, has an accounting and finance background, not an operating background. Her annual compensation is $14 million per year. She has been a strong proponent of solar energy and under her tenure as CEO Duke has made substantial investments in solar. Good came to Duke from the Cinergy, the Ohio electric company Duke acquired a number of years ago.
The Duke executive responsible for electric power in the Carolinas is Julie Janson whose title is Executive Vice President and CEO, Duke Energy Carolinas. Ms. Janson earned a bachelor’s degree in American studies from American University and a law degree from the Cincinnati School of Law. She also began her career at Cinergy, the Ohio electric company, in the law department. She headed the law department at Duke before, as her company biography states, “Previously, Janson served as executive vice president of external affairs and president of Duke Energy’s Carolinas region. In this role, she oversaw the corporate communications, federal government affairs, strategic policy and sustainability functions, stakeholder strategy and the Duke Energy Foundation. In addition, she had responsibility for the performance of the company’s regulated utilities in North Carolina and South Carolina.”
Janson’s company biography describes her current job as, “Julie Janson is executive vice president and chief executive officer for Duke Energy Carolinas. She has responsibility for regulatory and legislative affairs – and for the long-term strategic direction, growth and overall financial performance of Duke Energy’s regulated utilities in North Carolina and South Carolina.”
Notice there is no mention about being responsible for serving the electrical needs of Duke’s customers in the biography. The senior executives running the company have no hands on experience running power plants or electric grids. They are experienced in moving numbers around on a spreadsheet and litigating.
When the United States industrial infrastructure was at its peak in the 1960’s and 1970’s, most CEO jobs were filled by executives who rose to the top through the company’s operations (i.e. they made products) or sales and marketing (i.e they served customers). In the 1970’s financial MBA’s and lawyers began filling the senior executive jobs. The takeover of corporations by financial manipulators resulted in waves of quality reducing cost savings, downsizing and the offshoring of operations in the name of financial efficiency. Short term earnings were boosted to maximize executive bonuses and curry favor with Wall Street speculators. Long term, the US industrial infrastructure was gutted and China became a major supplier and rival to the United States.
Are we seeing the same pattern play out in the utility industry today? Have the experienced operating managers been pushed aside by accountants and lawyers who give themselves huge compensation packages while currying favor with leftist politicians, climate change activists, and woke Wall Street speculators touting ESG?
Excellent analysis... yes, institutional knowledge matters. The lockstep stupid left damages everything they touch. What horrible people.