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Duke Energy CEO: Democrat's bill shows 'clear investment' in technology to make 'net zero more achievable'

In a new interview with Yahoo Finance's Akiko Fujita, Duke Energy CEO Lynn Good discussed how provisions of the Biden economic agenda play an integral role in making net zero achievable.

Video transcript

AKIKO FUJITA: You mentioned the need to invest in technology moving forward. What's holding us back right now from going 100% in on renewables?

LYNN GOOD: I would point to the need for technologies that are a bit more expansive in their operating characteristics, Akiko, than-- when I think renewable, I think solar and wind. So what I'm looking for is technologies that would complement those, longer-duration storage so that when I need to serve my customers at 7:00 AM on a winter morning when it's dark, I have something other than a fossil fuel to turn on, to switch on to meet that need. So that R&D investment in those technologies around hydrogen and carbon capture, I think, are really important.

And I'm so pleased to see the recognition by the Biden administration of investment in those technologies in the infrastructure bill. You see investment in clean-tech R&D as an important element of that bill. And we support that because we see a need for those technologies. After we get to kind of the 70%, 80% carbon reduction that we can achieve with existing technologies, having those new technologies available in the 2030s will make net-zero more achievable.

AKIKO FUJITA: You mentioned the Biden administration's climate agenda. One of the key pillars of that is this clean electricity performance program, which essentially incentivizes utility companies to shift to clean energy. There's questions about whether that program is now in doubt because of what's happening over in DC. I wonder what you make of the approach the administration has set out to try and make this transition. They have said consistently that they believe incentivizing change instead of penalizing those who aren't necessarily making the change is the way to go.

LYNN GOOD: I believe the administration has been very thoughtful and quite comprehensive, Akiko, as they've talked about the aspirations around carbon. And we share the goal of reaching net zero. We also share the goal of advancing federal policy and state policy that advances these goals in a way that makes it possible to achieve them, maintaining affordability and reliability for our customers. And as I look at that infrastructure bill I just spoke about, there's very clear investment in the technologies that we believe we'll need in the future, a transformative investment that could help our industry achieve these goals, and certainly the goals shared with the Biden administration.

And then I would also talk about tax policy. There's a lot of discussion going on today about extension of incentives around renewable investment and storage and transmission and nuclear, all of which are carbon-free or enabling carbon-free technologies, and in a way that also could be quite transformative. So I think the engagement around these topics is ongoing. Duke is at the table, as well, talking with policymakers on what will advance this clean energy transition that we are all working so hard to accomplish.