While the debate over the extent of climate change and how to counter its impact rages on in the U.S., Lynn Good is busy making sure Duke Energy, the company she's run since 2013, is hitting emission reduction targets. She's betting on renewable energy, seeing in that pursuit an ample business opportunity for the nation's largest regulated utility.
The Charlotte-based company, serving 8.2 million customers in the Southeast and Midwest, now gets 8% of its power generation from renewable sources, up from 1% in 2005. But it's still far from the 27% Good expects to reach by 2030. In contrast, coal now drives 17% of power generation, down from 60% in 2005, and is on its way to obsoletion in 12 years. Duke's carbon emissions have dropped by almost half since 2005, the CEO notes.
