After a Nuclear Boondoggle, Duke Energy Is Turning to Renewable Energy
The traditional utility business has been holding out hope that some form of new electricity generation would allow them to maintain their monopoly status without rocking the boat in the way wind and particularly solar could. As long as electricity generation is dominated by massive power plants, rather than small rooftop solar systems or on-site wind turbines, it will be simple to keep utilities as we know them profitable.
Clean coal was a push in the industry for a while, but the $7.5 billion Kemper plant boondoggle by Southern Company (NYSE: SO) showed that it would never be economical. A nuclear renaissance has also been a dream for many utilities and investors, but costs have once again ballooned out of control.
Southern Company's expansion of the Vogtle Electric Generating Plant is billions of dollars over schedule and will be the cause of increased electricity rates in Georgia. In the last week, Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK) seems to have given up on its nuclear dreams entirely. The Lee Nuclear Station was abandoned by the company last week, a few years after the suspension of the Levy nuclear plant in Florida that resulted in about $1 billion in expenses that were charged to customers. What came next wasn't another nuclear plant, but a proposal to build 700 MW of solar energy installations, 50 MW of energy storage, and 500 EV chargers as part of a $6 billion plan to upgrade the grid in Florida. Finally, utilities and regulators are seeing renewable energy and energy storage as an asset and abandoning risky energy sources that have been multibillion-dollar boondoggles for the industry.
Source: Fool.com
Southern Company Stock
Currently there is a rather positive sentiment for Southern Company with 12 Buy predictions and 3 Sell predictions.
On the other hand, the target price of 70 € is below the current price of 71.66 € for Southern Company, so the potential is actually -2.32%.
