Deals

Duke CEO Sees Coal Entirely Disappearing From Its Power Mix

  • Piedmont purchase supports shift from coal to natural gas
  • Coal-based power generation to fall under Clean Power Plan

Snow falls on coal.

Photographer: Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg
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Duke Energy Corp.’s $4.9 billion purchase of Piedmont Natural Gas Co., set to close next week, will accelerate the utility owner’s shift away from coal, Chief Executive Officer Lynn Good said.

Duke will be able to build out Piedmont’s pipeline system to support its transition to gas-fired generation, a shift that’ll eventually eliminate coal entirely from its diet, Good said Wednesday in an interview at Bloomberg headquarters in New York. The company announced an Oct. 3 closing date Thursday in statementBloomberg Terminal after the deal got final approval from North Carolina.