William D. Johnson

{{#badges: CoalSwarm}} William D. Johnson is the Chief Executive Officer and President of Progress Energy. Prior to this position he served as president and chief operating officer for the company from January 2005 to October 2007. Johnson joined Progress Energy in 1992.

Before joining Progress Energy, Johnson was a partner with the Raleigh office of Hunton & Williams, where he specialized in the representation of utilities. He previously served as a law clerk to the Honorable J. Dickson Phillips Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

Johnson is also a member of the executive committee of the Nuclear Energy Institute, the U.S. nuclear industry's peak lobby group.

He earned his undergraduate degree in history from Duke University and his law degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Progress Energy power portfolio

Out of its total 28,019 MW of electric generating capacity in 2005 (2.63% of the U.S. total), Progress Energy produced 39.2% from natural gas, 28.3% from coal, 15.9% from oil, 15.7% from nuclear, and 0.8% from hydroelectricity. Progress Energy owns power plants in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.

Existing coal-fired power plants

Progress Energy owned 23 coal-fired generating stations in 2005, with 7,925 MW of capacity. Here is a list of Progress Energy's coal power plants:

Plant Name	State	County	Year(s) Built	Capacity	2007 CO2 Emissions	2006 SO2 Emissions
Roxboro	NC	Person	1966, 1968, 1973, 1980	2558 MW	15,100,000 tons	92,259 tons
Crystal River	FL	Citrus	1966, 1969, 1982, 1984	2443 MW	21,159,000 tons	95,548 tons
Mayo	NC	Person	1983	736 MW	5,321,000 tons	24,499 tons
Sutton	NC	New Hanover	1954, 1955, 1972	672 MW	3,091,000 tons	19,159 tons
Asheville	NC	Buncombe	1964, 1971	414 MW	2,346,000 tons	2,494 tons
Lee	NC	Wayne	1951, 1952, 1962	402 MW	2,061,000 tons	11,093 tons
Cape Fear	NC	Chatham	1956, 1958	329 MW	1,780,000 tons	14,593 tons
Robinson	SC	Darlington	1960	207 MW	1,297,000 tons	13,141 tons
Weatherspoon	NC	Robeson	1949, 1950, 1952	166 MW	666,000 tons	4,697 tons

In 2006, Progress Energy's 9 coal-fired power plants emitted 52.8 million tons of CO₂ (0.88% of all U.S. CO₂ emissions) and 277,000 tons of SO₂ (1.85% of all U.S. SO₂ emissions).

Nuclear power stations

• Brunswick Nuclear Plant, a two-nuclear reactor unit rated at 1,875-MW is located near Southport, North Carolina.
• Crystal River Nuclear Plant, a single nuclear reactor unit rated at 838-MW is located near Crystal River, Florida, on a site that also includes four coal-fired generating units that generate 2,313 MW.
• Harris Nuclear Plant, is a single nuclear reactor unit rated at 900-MW is located near New Hill, North Carolina.
• Robinson Nuclear Plant is a single nuclear reactor unit rated at 710-MW and is located near Hartsville, South Carolina. The site also includes a coal-fired unit that generates 180 MW and a combustion turbine unit that generates 15 MW.

Coal and Oil plants

• Anclote Plant, a 1,006-MW ocated near Holiday, Florida;
• Asheville Plant, a two-unit 376 megawatt power station located at Skyland, North Caorlina.
• Bartow Plant, a three unit 444 megawatt power station located near St. Petersburg, Florida;
• Cape Fear Plant is a two-unit coal fired station that generates 317 megawatts and is located near Moncure, North Carolina.
• Crystal River is a four-unit power station that produces 2,310 megawatts. The site also includes the Crystal River Nuclear Plant capable of producing 838 megawatt;
• the Lee Plant is a 399 megawatt power station located on the Neuss River near Goldsboro, North Carolina, that also includes four small combustion turbines capable of producing 75 MW;
• Mayo is a single-unit power station which generates 742 megawatts and is located near Roxboro, North Carolina.
• the Robinson Plant is a single-unit, 176-megawatt power station located near Hartsville, South Carolina. This site also includes the Robinson Nuclear Plant and one small combustion turbine;
• the Roxboro Steam Plant is a four-unite power station that produces 2,443 megawatts and is located near Roxboro, North Carolina;
• the Sutton Plant is a three-unit 598 megawatt power station located near Wilmington, N.C., on a site that also includes three small combustion turbines.
• Suwannee Plant is a three-unit 129 megawatt power station located near Ellaville, Florida. The site also includes three combustion turbines capable of producing 153 MW;
• the Weatherspoon Plant is a three-unit, 173 megawatt power station located near Lumberton, North Carolina and also includes four combustion turbines capable of producing 132 megawatts.

Proposed new plants

• Progress Energy is proposing to spend between $700 million to $750 million on the construction of additional combined-cycle generating plant at its existing Richmond County Energy Complex south of Hamlet. The 570 megawatt unit is proposed to be completed by June 2011.
• In mid-December 2006, Progress Energy announced that it had selected a site for a new nuclear power station in Levy County, eight miles north of the company’s Crystal River Energy Complex. The media release stated that a decision to proceed "won't be made for a year or longer."

Articles and Resources

Related SourceWatch Articles

• Key private sector decision makers on coal
• Progress Energy

External Articles

This article is a stub. You can help by expanding it.