Orbit Energy, a Raleigh alternative energy company, is planning its second power plant in the state that will convert food and animal waste into a flammable gas that can be used as a substitute for natural gas to generate electricity.

The company plans to build the small power plant by Dec. 31 in Charlotte, just south of the Charlotte Douglas International Airport, according to Orbit's registration statement with the N.C. Utilities Commission and issued today on the agency's web site.

Orbit's $12 million facility will use a process called anaerobic digestion to convert organic waste into a biogas. The fuel source will come from waste food from grocery stores, restaurants and food processing plants, as well as paper and cardboard.

Customers of Duke Energy, the state's largest power company, will see a rate cut this fall.

Duke's requested reduction will offset the 4.3 percent rate increase for residential customers the company implemented in January.

Charlotte-based Duke is asking the N.C. Utilities Commission to cut its rate because the company has been using less fuel to generate electricity during the economic downturn. The company can adjust the fuel portion of its rate once a year.

Duke's request must still be approved by the utilities commission and would go into effect Sept. 1.

The benefit will be short-lived, however. In January, four months after the rate decrease, Duke is raising its residential rate by 3.3 percent. That increase was previously approved by regulators as part of a two-year phase-in, the first phase of which took place two months ago.

Duke has more than 160,000 customers in Durham, Chapel Hill and the western part of the Triangle.

North Carolina leads the nation in the number of toxic ash waste pits at coal-burning power plants, according to a new report by a coalition of environmental groups.

The state is home to at least six coal ash pits that store dangerous levels of arsenic, lead, mercury and other toxins, according to the report issued today by Earthjustice and Environmental Integrity Project. Only Pennsylvania has as many sites with dangerous accumulations of waste from coal-burning power plants, the report said.

The groups are urging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to step up enforcement at the sites, which have operated for decades out of public eye until a massive spill in December 2008 released tons of toxic sludge in Tennessee.

"The EPA has never gone out and actively investigate these sites," said Jeff Stant, director of the Coal Combustion Waste Initiative at the Environmental Integrity Project. "The delay is unconscionable when there's this much data showing this much damage."

The Obama Administration announced this morning the first federal loan guarantee for the construction of a nuclear plant.

The $8 billion guarantee will be awarded to Southern Co. to build two reactors in Georgia at the existing nuclear site of the Vogtle Electric Generating Plant.

The loan guarantee places Southern Co. at the forefront of the so-called nuclear renaissance in this country. North Carolina's publicly held power companies -- Progress Energy in Raleigh and Duke Energy in Charlotte -- both have applied for licenses to build new nuclear reactors but are at least several years from being ready to begin construction.

Duke Energy said this afternoon its fourth-quarter earnings indicate that weak demand for electricity is showing signs of stabilization as the nation gradually recovers from the recession.

The Charlotte-based power company is one of the nation's largest electricity producers with 4 million customers in five states, including 1.8 million in North Carolina. The company has more than 160,000 customers in Durham, Chapel Hill and the western Triangle.

Duke reported flat sales for the fourth quarter at $3.1 billion. Profit for the quarter rose 5 percent, thanks in part to cost-cutting measures. Duke posted a profit of $346 million for the quarter ended Dec. 31, compared to $331 million.

Power companies serve as barometers of economic activity because energy use dips during downturns when businesses shut down and factories cut back production.

Progress Energy, based in Raleigh, said Thursday it has experienced declining electricity sales in Florida for three years and in the Carolinas for two years. Progress has 1.25 million customers in North Carolina.

Read a Charlotte Observer report on the earnings here.

Storing electricity on a large scale has been deemed impractical for more than a century, but it is now within reach as the nation's power companies develop smart grid technologies.

Duke Energy has been testing battery power storage in Charlotte for the past year and Progress Energy is also planning to test industrial batteries in this state soon.

Officials from both companies briefed utility regulators last month on the potential of battery storage as part of their smart grid strategy. The transcript of the Jan. 26 presentation was released Friday by the N.C. Utilities Commission.

Crescent Resources, a Charlotte company that planned to build a mix of shops and offices at Cameron Village before filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last year, has filed a restructuring plan with a bankruptcy court in Texas.

Under the terms of the plan, the company’s outstanding secured debt would be reduced by approximately $1 billion to $465 million.

Crescent is also seeking financing of approximately $125 to $150 million that would be used to refinance outstanding debt and provide working capital.

Crescent revealed plans in 2008 to build up to 28,000 square feet of shops and 232 apartments or condominiums at the corner of Oberlin Road and Clark Avenue.

Crescent's contract to buy the land from Regency Centers of Jacksonville, Fla., expired in November and wasn't renewed, but the developer still hopes to move forward on the project.

The state's largest utility will offer buyouts to employees and consolidate corporate functions in Charlotte and at its Midwest operations.

Duke Energy's headquarters will remain in Charlotte, the Charlotte Observer reports, and corporate operations such as finance, human resources and legal work will be consolidated there over two years. Duke maintains regional offices in locations including Cincinnati and Plainfield, Ind.

Duke has 2.4 million customers in the Carolinas, including more than 170,000 in Chapel Hill, Durham and other parts of the western Triangle.

Duke will extend the buyout offers to its 140 employees in this region, spokesman Tom Williams said. For all workers, there are some caveats: union employees aren't eligible, and workers must have been with the company for at least five years.

The buyouts and corporate changes are aimed at shaving $200 million from operating expenses this year. Duke set a $100 million target, later increased to $150 million, for cost-cutting in 2009. It will announce whether those savings were achieved when earnings for that year are released in mid-February.

As a cold spell chills the Triangle, here's a reminder that might warm the hearts of homeowners.

On Dec. 1, Progress Energy reduced its rates for the first time in five years, meaning that the usual increase on electricity bills during the winter months will be tempered slightly.

But don't celebrate too much and keep your sweater on. The average bill for a household using 1,000 kilowatts hours a month dropped by about 35 cents, or $4.20 a year.

The reduction reflects the lower costs that the Raleigh-based utility pays for coal and other fuels. And it's only a tiny reversal of surging energy prices in recent years. In 2008, Progress Energy raised rates about $10 a month.

Homeowners that use natural gas for heat also are getting a break this winter. PSNC Energy and Piedmont Natural Gas have both cut rates in recent months to reflect declining prices for that fuel. PSNC is now charging about 28 percent less than a year ago, shaving $38 a month off the typical home bill.

The news isn't as rosy for thousands of customers in the western Triangle that get power from Duke Energy. The Charlotte-based utility raised its rates about $7 a month on Jan. 1.

Duke Energy, the state's largest electric utility, will raise customer rates in January under an approval this morning from the N.C. Utilities Commission.

The effect on a typical residential customer will be about $7 a month, but the actual amount will vary by house size and energy usage.

The Charlotte-based power company will phase in the rate increase over two years. The company will raise rates 3.8 percent in January and raise rates again by 3.2 percent in 2011.