Report
Duke Energy: Environmental Justice Risks in 2022
Published in 2022-06
In 2022 Duke Energy Corporation had $84 billion in market capitalization, $62 billion in fixed income securities, and 27,000 employees, as an energy company located primarily in the Americas that owned an integrated network of energy assets and it is one of the largest U.S. utilities. In 2020, Duke reported Scope 1 emissions of 75 million mtCO2e, 24.5 thousand metric tons SO2, 39 thousand metric tons NOx, and 142.4 thousand metric tons methane emissions with coal generating 20.9% total electricity. For years, Duke has stored coal ash in landfills and ponds that often leak toxins into waterways. A leak in 2014 at a Duke North Carolina coal ash pond site left coal ash coating 70 miles of the Dan River. In 2015, Duke pled guilty and agreed to $102 million in fines and restitution due to federal environmental crimes because the company acknowledged it coal ash dumps at five power plants to leak toxic waste into water supplies.