Duke Energy secures settlement support for Carolinas utility combination

Duke Energy secures settlement support for Carolinas utility combination

Kim Riley|March 12, 2026|3 min read

Duke Energy has reached settlement agreements with a range of government agencies, corporations, and advocacy groups in both North Carolina and South Carolina over its proposed combination of two of its regulated utilities, a move the company says will deliver measurable savings to customers across the Carolinas.

The agreements concern Duke's plan to combine Duke Energy Carolinas and Duke Energy Progress, a restructuring that "reduces customer costs, simplifies operations, promotes regulatory efficiencies, and supports economic growth across the Carolinas," said Kendal Bowman, Duke Energy's North Carolina president.

Duke Energy Carolinas owns 20,800 megawatts (MW) of energy capacity and provides electricity to 2.9 million customers across a 24,000-square-mile service area in North Carolina and South Carolina, while Duke Energy Progress owns 13,800 MW of energy capacity, and supplies power to 1.8 million customers across a 28,000-square-mile service area in both states.

The settlement agreements were reached with intervening parties in both states ahead of final regulatory decisions, the Charlotte, N.C.-based parent company said March 10.

In North Carolina, settling parties include the North Carolina Public Staff, the North Carolina Attorney General's Office, as well as corporate customers such as Google, Nucor, and Walmart.

Several advocacy groups also joined the settlement, including the North Carolina Housing Coalition, the North Carolina Justice Center, the North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, and Vote Solar.

"We're pleased that Public Staff and the Attorney General's Office agree our customers will see significant future cost savings and other meaningful benefits from combining our two utilities," Bowman said.

A separate settlement agreement in South Carolina also outlines benefits tied to the proposed combination.

"Ensuring a win-win for our customers was a priority for Duke Energy and everyone involved in achieving this constructive settlement," said Tim Pearson, Duke Energy's South Carolina president. "We're grateful to the parties that recognize that this transaction, if approved under the settlement terms, would be in the best interest of our customers."

According to Duke, combining the two utilities would help the company meet rising electricity demand in the Carolinas at a lower cost than if the utilities continued to operate separately.

The company estimates billions of dollars in future savings could be shared with customers in both states.

As part of the settlement terms, Duke Energy has guaranteed hundreds of millions of dollars in future customer savings over a 14-year period, noting that the savings would come from lower production costs and more efficient capital planning made possible by operating the utilities as a single entity.

Examples cited by Duke include reduced fuel use and fewer purchases of out-of-state electricity. The company also said it would be able to remove 200 megawatts of battery storage from its long-range resource plan while maintaining reliability, lowering capital costs.

Additional savings could accumulate over time, said Duke, which pointed to updated modeling filed with regulators in October as part of the 2025 Carolinas resource planning process that projected roughly $2.3 billion in net customer savings between 2027 and 2040, with further savings expected in the following decade.

Under the settlement agreements, Duke Energy would be required to track and report customer savings annually to state regulators until the costs associated with the transaction are fully recovered.

The North Carolina Utilities Commission and the Public Service Commission of South Carolina still must approve the combination, which the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved Jan. 30.

Independent orders from state regulators are expected in the second quarter of 2026. If approved, the targeted effective date of the combination is Jan. 1, 2027.