North Carolina backs Duke on coal-fired plant

(Repeats, fixes typo in first paragraph)

By Jim Brumm

WILMINGTON, N.C., Nov 4 (Reuters) - North Carolina utility regulators have denied an advocacy group's motion to block construction of a $1.8 billion coal-fired power plant that Duke Energy Corp (DUK.N: Quote, Profile, Research) has been building in the state.

In an order issued on Wednesday, the state Utility Commission said it saw no reason to revoke a certificate allowing Duke Energy's Carolinas subsidiary to build the 800 megawatt unit at its Cliffside Steam Plant, about 50 miles (80 km) west of Charlotte.

The commission said the North Carolina Waste Awareness and Reduction Network, a nonprofit group pressing for energy efficiency and clean power generation, failed to justify its call for a review of the certificate of public convenience and necessity granted in March 2007 allowing construction of the plant.

Work on the plant began in January 2008 after the Division of Air Quality issued an air permit allowing operation of the plant once it is completed in 2012.

The construction is about 46 percent complete, Duke spokesman Jason Walls said Wednesday, adding that about $1 billion had been spent on the plant so far.

The Carolinas operations of Charlotte-based Duke Energy provide nearly 21,000 megawatts of electricity to more than 2.3 million customers in a 24,000-square-mile service area of North Carolina and South Carolina. (Editing by David Gregorio)