CEO Harry Sideris said the company is deploying more than $1 billion per month to meet “record demand.” Advocates say the utility has exaggerated projections to justify spending.
By Emma Penrod
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.
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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.