Duke Energy

During a public hearing for Duke Energy’s carbon and resource plan earlier this week, Duke Energy customers brought their concerns over energy-intensive data centers and expressed their frustration after the utility asked them to conserve energy.

In its proposed 2025 resource plan, Duke Energy said it wants to add seven combustion turbines in the coming years. The utility is considering Belews Creek for two of those.

As North Carolina continues decarbonizing its energy supply, giant batteries are one tool for keeping the lights on when the sun isn’t shining and the wind stops blowing. Duke Energy has brought a 50-megawatt battery online at the site of the former Allen coal plant in Gaston County.

The utility is taking another step toward transforming Belews Creek into a nuclear power site, asking federal regulators to review the location for future reactors.

Duke Energy has proposed steep rate hikes for residential customers, starting in 2027. Some customers see a discrepancy between the company’s profits, forecasted savings and these requested rate increases.

State regulators hosted two public hearings on Duke Energy’s proposal to merge its two Carolina companies into one entity, Duke Energy Carolinas. Tuesday night, two members of the public weighed in on the combination.

State regulators will hold two public hearings next week on Duke Energy’s proposal to combine its two Carolina utilities — Duke Energy Carolinas and Duke Energy Progress — into a single, fully integrated company.

Duke Energy has proposed rate hikes for North Carolina customers in both of its service territories for 2027 and 2028. In the first year, residential rates for Duke Energy Carolinas customers would increase by 11.9%, and those for Duke Energy Progress customers would increase by 14.1%. The utility has also asked state regulators to raise rates for commercial and industrial customers.

Energy experts gathered in Raleigh this week to discuss how North Carolina’s energy grid — and ratepayers’ wallets — will handle the incoming wave of new data centers.

Duke Energy plans to build new natural gas infrastructure to accommodate incoming data centers and manufacturers. But one data center developer is attempting to distance itself from the associated cost of new energy generation — illustrating the tension between the state’s biggest new power consumers and residents worried about their bills.