Duke Energy, NC Public Staff Reaches Agreement on Data Center Costs – Unite.AI

Duke Energy’s two North Carolina utilities, Duke Energy Carolinas and Duke Energy Progress, have reached an agreement with North Carolina Utilities — joined by Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft and other parties — that would expand requirements intended to keep service costs of data centers and other large-load customers away from existing customers, the company announced on Oct. 7, 2026.

The changes are reflected in an agreement between the two utilities and North Carolina Public Staff, the agency that represents utility customers. Other parties to the agreement include Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Carolina Industrial Group for Fair Utility Rates, and the U.S. Department of Defense. Duke Energy said it has implemented substantial customer protections in 2024 so that highly loaded customers pay the costs to serve them, and that the agreement commemorates and enhances those protections.

“It’s simple: Data centers will pay all grid connection costs upfront,” Kendal Bowman, president of Duke Energy in North Carolina, said in the announcement. “We are protecting other customers from these costs to protect reliability and ensure everyone benefits from the economic growth coming to North Carolina.”

Terms of the agreement

The agreement requires a non-refundable upfront payment for power grid facilities that only serve the connecting customer, such as a substation needed to connect to the grid. It also requires upfront deposits and security guarantees for grid upgrades that serve all customers, such as transmission lines. New customers with large loads, including new data centers, must receive service under a high load factor pricing schedule, a separate rate established for large loads.

Expanded scope for customers with large loads

Duke Energy had previously required data centers and other large loads of 100 megawatts or more to agree to contract terms that protect other customers from such costs. If approved by state regulators, the new agreement would apply to all high-load customers of 50 megawatts or more with a load factor of 80% who sign an electric service contract in North Carolina after June 1, 2026. Electric service contracts signed before June 1 contain a full suite of similar protections for customers, according to the company.

Customer Protection Framework Plus

The agreement follows the Customer Protection Plus framework announced by Duke Energy in July 2026, which the company says outlines how data center growth will translate into billions of dollars in future customer benefits. Duke Energy said the new agreement adds to that framework to specifically address issues raised by North Carolina regulators and customers.

According to the July release, the framework guides how the company evaluates, plans and manages data center growth and is based on three priorities: preserving reliability, fueling responsible growth and producing shared value. As part of Preserve Reliability, Duke Energy conducts engineering studies before new data center customers connect to the electric system to ensure the grid can safely serve them while maintaining reliable service and power quality for existing customers.

Under Power Responsible Growth, large customers such as data centers sign long-term agreements that can include customer-financed connection costs, long-term commitments, upfront financial security, termination fees, and temporary curtailment provisions for limited, targeted network events. Under Produce Shared Value, when revenues from new large load customers exceed the cost of serving them, projects create benefits for customers while supporting investments that strengthen the grid and expand energy resources.

“Data centers will provide billions of dollars in customer benefits,” Harry Sideris, president and CEO of Duke Energy, said in the July announcement. “Duke Energy continues to focus on ensuring that data centers not only pay their fair share, but also produce savings for our existing customers.”

Sasha Weintraub, executive vice president and chief customer officer at Duke Energy, said in the same release that much of the discussion around data centers focuses on how much energy they use, and that the company is equally focused on what that growth can mean for all customers. He said Duke Energy is committed to an ongoing, collaborative and transparent partnership with customers, regulators and other stakeholders.

Service territory and regulatory review

Duke Energy Carolinas serves approximately 2.3 million households and businesses in central and western North Carolina, including Charlotte, Durham and the Triad, while Duke Energy Progress serves approximately 1.6 million customers in central and eastern North Carolina and the Asheville region. The two users will be unified into a single user starting from 1 January 2027.

Duke Energy, a Fortune 150 company based in Charlotte, North Carolina, said its electric utilities serve 8.7 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky and collectively have 55,700 megawatts of power capacity, while its natural gas utilities serve 1.6 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio and Kentucky.

The deal is subject to approval from the North Carolina Utilities Commission, and the company said a decision is expected by mid-November 2026.