- Natural gas will remain part of the power mix for years to come to help keep electric grids reliable and power affordable as they transition to cleaner forms of energy, the CEOs of Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) and Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) told the CERAWeek by IHS Markit conference today.
- Duke's Lynn Good asserted that natural gas "plays an incredibly important role today" and will continue to do so into the future, but "that does not mean that in any way we lack conviction on carbon reduction," noting the utility's goals of cutting emissions by at least 50% by 2030 and reaching net zero by 2050.
- "But as we dispatch our system and look at how we create that balance... natural gas is filling an important role today to make all of this work, and we see it doing so for some time," she said.
- Xcel's Ben Fowke agreed, saying, "If we're going to hit these important interim milestones, we're going to have to recognize that natural gas is going to be an important component of that," although "we have to make sure that the product that we're using is as clean as possible."
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- Utility company stocks provide a cheap way to plug into the seismic shift away from coal and toward wind and solar power over the next 15 years, according to the latest Barron's cover feature.