Duke Energy seals deal to shield users from data center costs

Duke Energy and stakeholders reached a settlement on October 7, 2026, to shield existing customers from the costs of serving data centers and other large-load users in North Carolina. The agreement was filed by the utility's units, Duke Energy Carolinas and Duke Energy Progress, alongside the North Carolina Public Staff, Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Carolina Industrial Group for Fair Utility Rates, and the U.S. Department of Defense.

Under the terms of the settlement, data centers and large-load facilities must make nonrefundable upfront payments for dedicated grid facilities, such as substations. They must also provide upfront deposits and financial security guarantees for broader grid upgrades like transmission lines. Additionally, these customers must take power under a dedicated High Load Factor rate schedule.

If approved by state regulators, the agreement lowers the threshold for these requirements from the prior 100 megawatts to customers demanding 50 megawatts or more with an 80% load factor that sign an electric service agreement after June 1, 2026. The framework builds on the Customer Protection Plus plan announced in July, which the company expects to generate billions of dollars in long-term customer benefits.

The settlement requires approval from the North Carolina Utilities Commission, which expects to issue a decision by mid-November. Duke Energy Carolinas serves 2.3 million customers and Duke Energy Progress serves 1.6 million customers in the state, with plans to merge the two into a single utility on January 1, 2027. Across its six operating states, Duke Energy serves 8.7 million electric customers and 1.6 million natural gas customers, operating 55,700 megawatts of generation capacity.