Published July 12, 2010

A former Duke University chancellor and economics professor has published a report saying that solar electricity in North Carolina is now slightly cheaper than new nuclear power and that the state should change its energy strategy.

By the time any new nuclear power plants could be built, solar energy will be far less expensive, says John O. Blackburn, a retired professor who was a member of the university's faculty from 1959 to 1980 and is a former chair of the economics department.

Mr. Blackburn issued his report, compiled with graduate student Sam Cunningham, for the North Carolina Waste Awareness & Reduction Network, a nonprofit group that advocates for renewable energy.

The report, titled "Solar and Nuclear Costs – the Historic Crossover," says that falling costs for producing solar electricity and rising costs for constructing new nuclear power plants, after accounting for government subsidies for both energy sources, recently reached a crossover point at about 16 cents per kilowatt-hour.

"North Carolina should be leading, not lagging, in the transition to clean energy," Mr. Blackburn said in a news release. "We call on Gov. [Beverly] Perdue and state agencies to see that a very important turning point has been reached, and act accordingly."

He said that the solar industry could bring thousands of manufacturing and installation jobs to North Carolina, but that utilities are impeding its development. At least 20 states are ahead of North Carolina in developing cleaner energy, he added.

No new nuclear power plants have been ordered in the United States since the time of a 1979 accident at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania. The Obama administration has been pushing for a revival of nuclear power generation and has approved allotting tens of billions of dollars in federal loan guarantees to help fund construction.

North Carolina is considered a leading site for new nuclear plants, although the first loan guarantee of $8.3 billion was awarded earlier this year to a Georgia nuclear project.

 Mr. Blackburn said in the news release that a "watershed moment" has occurred and that energy costs will rise less in North Carolina with a cleaner-energy approach than if new nuclear reactors are built.

The retired professor and the student said in their report that commercial solar companies are offering utilities electricity at 14 cents or less per kilowatt-hour. The investor-owned utilities Duke Energy and Progress Energy are limiting or rejecting these offers and moving ahead with plans for nuclear plants that would generate electricity at a cost of 14 to 18 cents per kwh, according to estimates described in the report.

Rooftop solar for homes and businesses is available at a 25-year cost averaging about 16 cents per kwh, the report says, based on a gross installed cost of $6 per watt, a typical recent price in the state, and financing at 6 percent interest.

"We are asking the governor to take the leadership in creating the new solar economy," John Runkle, an attorney for the Waste Awareness & Reduction Network, said in the news release. "The biggest barriers to solar electricity are the electric utilities, and if they begin construction on nuclear plants, our electricity rates will skyrocket and our solar industry will continue to be impeded."

Jim Warren, director of the advocacy group, said, "There is a global energy transition under way, one that is crucially needed to rebuild our economies and tackle the climate crisis. North Carolina's big utilities need to either contribute to that transition or get out of the way and watch rooftop solar and other sources of distributed energy capture the market."

He urged people to invest in rooftop solar energy systems, for their own financial benefit, to help expand the market, and to reduce energy demand and pollution.