Carbon-Capture Technology At Least 10 Years Away-Duke CEO

Sep 11, 2007 - Matthew Kalton - Dow Jones Newswire

NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- The technology to capture carbon-dioxide emissions from a power plant and store them underground is 10 to 15 years away from commercial viability, limiting the power sector's ability to significantly cut emissions in the short to medium term, Duke Energy Corp.'s (DUK) top executive said Tuesday.

"I think carbon-capture and sequestration technology has been oversold," said Jim Rogers, Duke's chief executive. "I think this is a 15-year process before we can commercially scale this up."

Many see carbon capture and storage as crucial for the industry to reduce its contribution to global warming. American Electric Power Co. Inc. (AEP) and NRG Energy Inc. (NRG) have said they plan to rely on the technology to cut emissions from their coal-burning power plants.

Rogers sounded a more pessimistic note Tuesday at a company meeting for analysts. Duke probably won't build another coal-burning plant in North Carolina or South Carolina after completing a unit at its Cliffside plant, he said. In the next five years, the only new coal plant the company might want to propose would be in Ohio, he said.

Rogers has been a vocal proponent of laws to limit carbon-dioxide emissions. Congress is expected to debate climate-change legislation this fall.

On a separate matter, Rogers said he didn't think the expiration of regulated electric rates in Ohio in 2009 would cause the kind of public backlash against utilities that occurred in Maryland and Illinois. But he acknowledged that risks still exist in 2008, an election year.

"I can't predict the behavior of politicians in an election year," Rogers said. "I'm not that smart."

-By Matthew Dalton, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-4604; matthew.dalton@ dowjones.com

Corrected Tuesday, September 11, 200716:35 ET (20:35 GMT)

On a separate matter, Rogers said he didn't think the expiration of regulated electric rates in Ohio in 2009 would cause the kind of public backlash against utilities that occurred in Maryland and Illinois.

("Carbon-Capture Technology At Least 10 Years Away-Duke CEO," published at 4: 06 p.m. EDT misstated the name of the second state being compared to Ohio.)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires 09-11-071606ET Copyright (c) 2007 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.