Cliffside coal plant

And the unnecessary and overly-expensive Cliffside coal plant is partly to blame:

The increases are keyed to more than $7 billion in plant construction and other capital costs planned over that span. “We expect the next rate case to be smaller,” Carter says. That increase, which Duke would expect to see take effect in 2014, should not include as much for construction at Cliffside, for instance, although it will include the costs of another natural gas plant.

Another part of this (mismanaged) equation is proof positive that claims Cliffside opponents made, that the coal-burning monster wasn't needed, were correct:

In the midst of all the rhetoric and half-baked excuses our State government likes to employ when ignoring environmental nightmares like Titan Cement, Cliffside and PCS Phosphates, I figured it was time to remind them of decades-old (but still gold) laws that have been passed that provide both guidance and requirements for our officials to follow. Follow me down below the fold and get ready to take notes: