(RALEIGH) -- Duke Energy has gone before the North Carolina Utilities Commission asking it to approve spending as much as $459 million on a new nuclear plan project extending into 2013.  During the hearing, Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers heard the opposition of citizens, but offered a statistic in rebuttal.

"In the United States 70 percent of the carbon free electricity comes from nuclear and if we don't rebuild that fleet our emissions footprint will go up dramatically in this country," said Rogers.

It will be sometime in May before a decision on Duke Energy's request is rendered.