Duke Energy Carolinas reaches partial agreement with North Carolina Public Staff to strengthen system reliability, reduce the requested rate increase
- Partial settlements would reduce the requested customer rate increase by approximately $158 million
- Grid investments include pole and line upgrades, undergrounding of outage-prone lines, and smart technology for faster power restoration
- Agreement reduces retail customer costs associated with Duke Energy Plaza, saving customers about $5 million annually
- Matters not resolved include return on equity, capital structure, and COVID-related costs
- Partial settlement will help improve grid resiliency and advance the clean energy transition
- Settlement and testimony will be reviewed by regulators in a hearing that begins Aug. 28
- Agreement follows Friday's order by North Carolina Utilities Commission that concluded the parallel Duke Energy Progress rate review
The partial settlements include agreement on many aspects of the company's proposed revenue requirement in the case, such as capital projects, grid enhancements and related costs to be included in the three-year rate plan; cost recovery of plant-related investments to improve reliability; coal plant retirement dates to be used for depreciation rates; and Performance Incentive Mechanisms that hold Duke Energy accountable for outcomes that help customers and achieve state policy goals.
Grid investments benefiting customers include pole and line upgrades, targeted undergrounding of outage-prone lines, and the installation of smart, self-healing technology that enables faster power restoration.
"Similar to our case at Duke Energy Progress, we are pleased to achieve common ground with the Public Staff on a number of key issues and reach an agreement that prioritizes the needs of our customers, advances grid reliability and resiliency across the state, and maintains the financial health of the company," said Kendal Bowman, Duke Energy's
The agreement would also reduce retail customer costs associated with the Duke Energy Plaza. The company's new headquarters are facilitating a major real estate consolidation in uptown
The partial settlements were filed Tuesday with the North Carolina Utilities Commission (NCUC) and can be found here and here. If approved by the NCUC, the agreements would reduce the requested customer rate increase across the three-year rate period by approximately
Matters not resolved by the partial settlements include return on equity, capital structure and recovery of costs associated with serving the company's customers during the COVID pandemic. Those items will be considered along with testimony submitted by the company, other participating parties and the public during an evidentiary hearing in
Duke Energy Carolinas serves about 2 million households and businesses in central and western
Aug. 18 NCUC order concludes Duke Energy Progress rate review
After a similar evidentiary hearing for the parallel Duke Energy Progress rate review, the NCUC issued its order on Friday afternoon to conclude that case. A full analysis of customer bill impacts will be filed with the NCUC in the coming weeks, and the company's statement on Friday's order can be found here.
Duke Energy Progress serves about 1.7 million customers in central and eastern
Duke Energy Carolinas
Duke Energy Carolinas, a subsidiary of Duke Energy, owns 19,500 megawatts of energy capacity, supplying electricity to 2.8 million residential, commercial and industrial customers across a 24,000-square-mile service area in
Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), a Fortune 150 company headquartered in
Duke Energy is executing an aggressive clean energy transition to achieve its goals of net-zero methane emissions from its natural gas business by 2030 and net-zero carbon emissions from electricity generation by 2050. The company has interim carbon emission targets of at least
Duke Energy was named to Fortune's 2023 "World's Most Admired Companies" list and Forbes' "World's Best Employers" list. More information is available at duke-energy.com. The Duke Energy News Center contains news releases, fact sheets, photos and videos. Duke Energy's illumination features stories about people, innovations, community topics and environmental issues. Follow Duke Energy on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.
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SOURCE Duke Energy