Duke Energy is committed to finding affordability solutions for customers amid rising demand — and opposition to the company's $103 billion spending plan, company leaders said during a Tuesday earnings call.
Duke has recently adopted a “customer protection plus” commitment to reinforce a requirement that large users of energy pay for the cost of serving their facilities, potentially saving existing Duke Energy customers billions of dollars over time, said President and CEO Harry Sideris.
Sideris also said the utility is considering rate structures that would highlight customer savings by visibly returning savings from large load contracts to existing customers via electric bills.
More than 5 GW of new data centers are already under construction within Duke Energy's six-state service territory, and the company has signed 7.8 GW of electric service agreements with data center customers, he said.
The company expects to have signed a total of 15.4 GW of electric service agreements by the first half of 2027 and plans to build 15 GW of new generation capacity by 2031 to serve that demand.
“To meet this record demand and to continue long-term value for our customers, communities, and shareholders, we’re executing on the industry’s largest regulated capital plan, deploying more than $1 billion per month,” Sideris said. “We are laser-focused on disciplined execution and responsible financial stewardship, as our priority has been and always will be providing customers reliable power at the lowest possible cost.”
Duke Energy plans to build some 7.5 GW of new gas plants paired with about 4.5 GW of battery storage, according to the company's earnings presentation slides, but no new nuclear. Duke Energy does plan to expand and upgrade its existing nuclear fleet for an additional 300 MW, Sideris said. But he said the company is “not in a position yet to make a decision on new nuclear” pending ongoing talks with the federal government and other stakeholders.
Financing this plan will require a total of $10 billion in common equity between 2027 to 2030, according to the company’s presentation. The company has already priced $600 million in at-the-market offerings — to be settled at the end of 2027 — so far this year to capitalize on “attractive pricing today and de-risk our future equity needs,” Sideris said.
“We are executing our strategy to seize growth opportunities, expand our generation fleet and work with stakeholders to reach constructive regulatory outcomes that support critical investments while keeping costs as low as possible,” he said.
Duke Energy is also reviewing the results of a study, completed last month, that evaluates the potential benefits of a sale of the 1,040-MW Cayuga coal plant in Indiana. The utility currently plans to retire the coal plant following the completion of a 1.5-GW gas-fired facility under construction at the same location.
Duke Energy continues to pursue a merger of subsidiaries Duke Energy Carolinas and Duke Energy Progress; it received a written order from the South Carolina Public Service Commission approving the combination on June 3, according to the company's quarterly Securities and Exchange Commission filings. Company officials did not discuss the merger on Tuesday's call.
The utility faces criticism in North Carolina, where it originally requested some $1.7 billion in additional revenue via base rate increases in 2027 and 2028. Sideris said Duke Energy had negotiated settlements in North Carolina that would authorize $1.1 billion of the company's request. But the proposed rate increases have also led to calls for a moratorium on data center development in North Carolina.
In a letter to the state’s governor, NC Warn, an advocacy group focused on climate and energy justice, argued that Duke Energy testimony in the two rate cases revealed that electricity use in the state has declined despite population growth, that the utility has exaggerated its own growth projections and that the company is recruiting large load customers in order to justify its spending plan.
“This is a scandal and crime being perpetrated against the people of North Carolina who are already struggling with soaring power bills, repeated devastation by storms and assaults on their communities by massive data center developers whop provide almost no jobs after initial construction,” NC Warn wrote.
The utility company is also facing a dispute in Indiana over a rate hike approved last year. The state’s ratepayer advocate has accused Duke of over collecting more than $89 million. At the same time, the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission has been roiled by change, with Gov. Mike Braun expressing displeasure over recent rate hikes before firing Andy Zay from the commission this week after demoting him from its chairmanship.
Duke Energy continues to hold that it has collected rates in accord with the 2025 IURC order, and noted in an email to Utility Dive that the commission has upheld its actions in the matter on three separate occasions.
Sideris acknowledged the sensitivity of the issue, telling analysts the company shares the governor’s and the commission’s concerns about the rising cost of living.
“Affordability is top of mind,” Sideris said.
