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Yeah, but I'm a physicist and am not affiliated in any way with Duke Power. I'm just stating facts -- indeed, here is a piece of DP information:

https://www.duke-energy.com/ou...

700 large scale solar facilities around the state. What they are doing in other states I do not know, but in NC they are literally building new ones all the time. Note this:

http://www.seia.org/research-r...

NC is indeed number two in the national rankings in installed capacity as of last year, behind California and (perhaps surprisingly) ahead of near-desert states like Arizona, and most of this is Duke Power.

I reiterate: The Koch brothers have a specific agenda that is (as far as one can tell) the active suppression of democracy and the establishment, no, that's not fair as it's already there, the rapid growth in the power of an oligarchy. The energy companies in general, however, don't give a rat's ass what is the source of the energy they collect or release and redistribute, as long as they make a good profit from it. Solar is profitable, and about to become the most profitable, by far. So it doesn't matter what one does to "free up coal" or reverse carbon restrictions. Nobody is going back to (substantial new capacity in) coal in the US, although it may be decades before the grid can function without it.

It's in North Carolina!.

You thought the bathrooms were the first step, but it's already too late, they're in your house, in your house!

[North Carolina has] installed a massive amount in the state (to the point where they are running into problems with lack of storage during peak sunlight).

North Carolina has on the order of 1,100 MW of PV installed (source. Duke Energy Progress (NC + SC) has a peak summer load of 13,232 MW for planning purposes. Duke Energy Carolina (NC + SC) has a peak summer load of 18,691 MW. The combined load -- because Duke Energy and Duke Progress (in North and South Carolina) are now a single jointly operated system -- is 31,923 MW. See 2013 DEP IRP Table 3-A and 2013 DEC IRP Table 3-A (pdfs). Duke has roughly 36,000 MW of generating capacity (Tables 8-D, row 5), of which ~15% is combustion turbines (Charts 8-E). CTs are fast ramp, and Duke has roughly 5,400 MW of CTs -- far more than enough to easily integrate 1,100 MW of PV distributed across its system. Duke Energy operating in North Carolina should have absolutely no trouble integrating the 1,100 MW of solar PV operating in the territory, on time scales of sub-second, 15 second, 5 minute, 15 minute, hourly, and daily operations. As Duke continues to retire coal units and build CTs and combined cycle (CC) gas plants, its ability to integrate PV will only increase.

[North Carolina has] installed a massive amount in the state (to the point where they are running into problems with lack of storage during peak sunlight).

North Carolina has on the order of 1,100 MW of PV installed (source. Duke Energy Progress (NC + SC) has a peak summer load of 13,232 MW for planning purposes. Duke Energy Carolina (NC + SC) has a peak summer load of 18,691 MW. The combined load -- because Duke Energy and Duke Progress (in North and South Carolina) are now a single jointly operated system -- is 31,923 MW. See 2013 DEP IRP Table 3-A and 2013 DEC IRP Table 3-A (pdfs). Duke has roughly 36,000 MW of generating capacity (Tables 8-D, row 5), of which ~15% is combustion turbines (Charts 8-E). CTs are fast ramp, and Duke has roughly 5,400 MW of CTs -- far more than enough to easily integrate 1,100 MW of PV distributed across its system. Duke Energy operating in North Carolina should have absolutely no trouble integrating the 1,100 MW of solar PV operating in the territory, on time scales of sub-second, 15 second, 5 minute, 15 minute, hourly, and daily operations. As Duke continues to retire coal units and build CTs and combined cycle (CC) gas plants, its ability to integrate PV will only increase.

http://www.duke-energy.com/pow...
http://www.duke-energy.com/pow...

Reservoir provides 1,000MW of capacity that can be tapped quickly, and water is pumped from the lower to the upper reservoir using off-peak power.
The whole thing is a as a load-balancing feature of the nuclear plant (2500MW). Use the off-peak load excess to pump water up to the upper reservoir overnight and tap it to level off peak demand that happens during the day.

Alternative power sources like solar and wind could certainly use such a system as a battery too, but geography might prevent it.

http://www.duke-energy.com/pow...
http://www.duke-energy.com/pow...

Reservoir provides 1,000MW of capacity that can be tapped quickly, and water is pumped from the lower to the upper reservoir using off-peak power.
The whole thing is a as a load-balancing feature of the nuclear plant (2500MW). Use the off-peak load excess to pump water up to the upper reservoir overnight and tap it to level off peak demand that happens during the day.

Alternative power sources like solar and wind could certainly use such a system as a battery too, but geography might prevent it.

Not the dirtiest, no, but it isn't like nuclear power is a tremendous feature of wester N.C. According to this region's power supplier, coal and oil-fired plants make up at least two-thirds of the electricity generation, splitting the rest between nuclear (most of it) and hydro plants.

Cheap TVA electricity.

Actually, they are located close to McGuire nuclear power plant (owned by Duke Energy), and near 4 major hydroelectric dams on the Yadkin River that create High Rock Lake, Tuckertown, Badin Lake (Narrows) and Falls lake, which are managed/quazi-owned by Alcoa. Alcoa doesn't make aluminum here anymore, so they have power to sell, and usually do during peak time. There are also a number of coal and natural gas plants nearby. I live about 70 miles from the new data center, and was somewhat surprised that they put it in such a low density area, until I realized how much power capacity is nearby. TVA isn't really a factor in this part of the country, as I believe all the hydro power around here is privately owned.

Electricity usage in NC is way down, due to all the textile and furniture manufacturing moving to China and India, plus all the aluminum manufacturing is now gone. Those industries were typically BIG consumers of electricity. My understanding is that all the power plants in this region are running well below their peak output, so we literally have more than we know what to do with here. I would imagine that electricity is damn cheap for Apple to buy in bulk, which is a major portion of their expenses.

Also, it doesn't hurt that NC is located somewhat in the center of the eastern USA, and 2/3rds of the population lives east of the Mississippi river, so it is actually a good location, geographically. The rather new Dell plant near Winston-Salem was just shut down (moved to Mexico), and there has been rumors of Apple buying it for manufacturing as well. There are lots of good reasons that would make sense, since the state spent MILLIONS in new infrastructure to the plant just a few years ago, and the workforce around here is generally good with a manufacturing history, AND both UPS and FedEx have major hubs about 30 minutes away at GSO. Would love to see that happen, only because we need the jobs with over 10% unemployment here.

Ouch, that page is talking about capacity, not actual generation. Probably a lot of that natural gas capacity is unused since it's for peak production times. For instance, Lincoln Combustion Turbine Station is 1200 MW of capacity but only runs on "hot summer afternoons and cold winter mornings."

If you look at the page about annual net generation by energy source, you see natural gas accounts for 800 TWh out of 4000 TWh total. Coal is 1990 TWh. Petroleum is an anemic 64 TWh (1.5% of total).

By the way, nuclear is 787/4000 = 19.7%, pretty close to 20%.

$0.33/kWh?!?!

Try a normal, non-Californian-buttrape price:

http://www.duke-energy.com/rates/north-carolina.asp
specifically the residential, no-energy discounts rate, RS:
http://www.duke-energy.com/pdfs/NCScheduleRS.pdf

Basic Facilities Charge per month $ 7.87
For the first 350 kWh used per month, per kWh 7.3572
For all over 350 kWh used per month, per kWh 7.7470

Yes, that's 7-something cents a kWh, 24 hours a day. Of course, there are at least 2, possibly 3 nuclear reactors feeding this service area, and NC is well regulated.

Ah, even better, state-by-state and national numbers:
http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epm/table5_6_a.html

10.24 cents/kWh average across the US for residential in Feb 2008.

Anyways, using your $4.75/night figure and converting to my prices ($0.077470/kWh), that's more like $1.12/night.

$0.33/kWh?!?!

Try a normal, non-Californian-buttrape price:

http://www.duke-energy.com/rates/north-carolina.asp
specifically the residential, no-energy discounts rate, RS:
http://www.duke-energy.com/pdfs/NCScheduleRS.pdf

Basic Facilities Charge per month $ 7.87
For the first 350 kWh used per month, per kWh 7.3572
For all over 350 kWh used per month, per kWh 7.7470

Yes, that's 7-something cents a kWh, 24 hours a day. Of course, there are at least 2, possibly 3 nuclear reactors feeding this service area, and NC is well regulated.

Ah, even better, state-by-state and national numbers:
http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epm/table5_6_a.html

10.24 cents/kWh average across the US for residential in Feb 2008.

Anyways, using your $4.75/night figure and converting to my prices ($0.077470/kWh), that's more like $1.12/night.

I think it's a Massachusetts thing. I just checked my favorite power plant, Oconee Nuclear Station, and those three boys are still out in the open.

On the flip side the operators in the Southeast, DUKE, Progress, SCANA etc are doing a 'first energy' big time. Just look at the mess they made at GridSouth past few years.