Gaston County is a county in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 227,943. The county seat is Gastonia. Dallas served as the original county seat from 1846 until 1911.
Lake Norman of Catawba is a census-designated place (CDP) in Catawba County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 8,658 at the 2020 census up from 7,411 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Belmont is a small suburban city in Gaston County, North Carolina, United States, located about 9 miles (14 km) east of Gastonia. The population was 10,076 at the 2010 census. Once known as Garibaldi Station, it was named for the New York banker August Belmont. Belmont is home to Belmont Abbey College.
A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid.
The Catawba River is a major river located in the Southeastern United States. It originates in Western North Carolina and flows into South Carolina, where it later becomes known as the Wateree River. The river is approximately 220 miles (350 km) long. It rises in the Appalachian Mountains and drains into the Piedmont, where it has been impounded through a series of reservoirs for flood control and generation of hydroelectricity. The river is named after the Catawba tribe of Native Americans, which lives on its banks. In their language, they call themselves "yeh is-WAH h’reh", meaning "people of the river."
Lake Wylie is a reservoir or man-made lake in the U.S. states of South Carolina and North Carolina. The lake has a surface area of 13,400 acres (54 km2) 20.9 square miles (54 km2) and features 325 miles (523 km) of shoreline.
Lake Norman is a man-made fresh water lake in southwest North Carolina. The largest lake in the state, it was created between 1959 and 1964 as part of the construction of the Cowans Ford Dam by Duke Energy. Located in Iredell County, 15 miles north of Charlotte, Lake Norman State Park boasts the region's popular mountain biking trail system.
Duke Energy Corporation is an American electric power and natural gas holding company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company ranked as the 141st largest company in the United States in 2024 – its highest-ever placement on the Fortune 500 list.
Mountain Island is an unincorporated community in eastern Gaston County, North Carolina, United States. Not to be confused with the Charlotte neighborhood of the same name in Mecklenburg County. It is approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) north of Mount Holly.
Marshall Steam Station is a coal power plant located at 35°35′51″N80°57′53″W in Sherrills Ford, Catawba County, North Carolina, United States and owned by Duke Energy. Named for former company president E.C. Marshall, the station is located on Lake Norman and began commercial operation in 1965.
G. G. Allen Steam Station is a 1.140 GW coal-fired electricity generating facility, located in South Point Township, Gaston County, North Carolina, on man-made Lake Wylie. Units 1 and 2 began operating in 1957; units 3, 4, and 5 in 1959, 1960, and 1961 respectively. Named for George Garland Allen, a former president and first chairman of the board for Duke Power, the Allen facility is the only Duke Energy station with five units under one roof. The plant is equipped with a flue-gas desulfurization system, completed in 2009, that decreases the air emissions coming from the plant. In February 2021, Duke Energy in a filing to the North Carolina Utilities Commission advanced their planned closure for Unit 3 from December 31, 2021 to March 31, 2021.
Lake Wateree is a 21-square-mile (50 km2) reservoir in Kershaw, Fairfield, and Lancaster counties, South Carolina, in the United States. Developed in 1919 by the damming of the Wateree River, it is one of South Carolina's oldest man-made lakes. It has 181 miles (291 km) of shoreline and includes Lake Wateree State Park, a bird refuge, and Shaw Air Force Base Recreation Center.
The Dan River Steam Station is a power plant in Eden, North Carolina, owned by Duke Energy. The plant comprises three natural gas-fueled combustion turbines, which began operation in 1968.), and two natural gas-fueled combined cycle turbines are planned for the near future. A coal-fired electrical power plant at the site ceased operation in 2012.
The Catawba Nuclear Station is a nuclear power plant located on a 391-acre (158 ha) peninsula, called "Concord Peninsula", that reaches out into Lake Wylie, in York, South Carolina, US. Catawba utilizes a pair of Westinghouse four-loop pressurized water reactors.
The Riverbend Steam Station was a former 454-MW coal-fired electrical power plant in Gaston County, North Carolina, owned by Duke Energy. It was originally slated for decommissioning in 2015, but was closed in April 2013. The four-unit station was named for a bend in the Catawba River on which it was located. Riverbend was considered a cycling station to be brought on line to supplement supply when electricity demand was highest. Four gas-fired combustion turbine units were also housed on the site, but were retired in October 2012. The last recognizable section of the structure and its boiler were demolished on 22 June 2018. Duke Energy claimed that coal ash basins from Riverbend Steam Station were fully excavated in March 2019.
Lake Adger is a mountain lake in Polk County, North Carolina, north of Tryon and south of Lake Lure, North Carolina.
In February 2014, an Eden, North Carolina facility owned by Duke Energy spilled 39,000 tons of coal ash into the Dan River. The company later pled guilty to criminal negligence in their handling of coal ash at Eden and elsewhere and paid fines of over $5 million. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has since been responsible for overseeing cleanup of the waste. EPA and Duke Energy signed an administrative order for the site cleanup.
The H.F. Lee Energy Complex, formerly the Goldsboro Plant, is an electrical power generating complex operated by Duke Energy. The power complex was originally owned by the Carolina Power & Light Company, which inaugurated a coal-fired power plant in 1951. Two more coal plants were added in 1952 and 1962, and then oil-fueled turbines were added in 1967–71. In 2012 these units were shut down and replaced by four gas-fired units. The Quaker Neck Lake was built as a cooling pond for the coal-fired power stations, and is still used to supply cooling water. It was originally impounded by a low dam on the Neuse River, but in 1998 the dam was removed, while the lake remained contained in an earthen wall. This change allowed fish to migrate further upstream for spawning. Ash ponds near the lake hold toxic coal ash. There are plans to remove and recycle or bury the ash.
The W.S. Lee Steam Station, which was previously called the Lee Steam Station, is an electric generation station located near Williamston, South Carolina on the Saluda River. It was named for William States Lee who was chief engineer of Duke Power. He is the grandfather of William States Lee III, who was a chairman and president of Duke Power.
