Duke Energy proposal fails to hold data centers accountable in Large Load Tariff settlement

Duke Energy has filed a settlement in a North Carolina rate case that critics say does not do enough to make data centers pay for the grid upgrades needed to serve them. At issue is how utilities handle "large load" customers like data centers, whose massive power needs can require costly new power plants and grid equipment. The worry is that if those customers later scale back or leave the state, regular households and small businesses get stuck paying for infrastructure built on their behalf.

The settlement includes a minimum billing charge meant to ensure large customers keep paying over time, but clean energy and consumer advocacy groups, including the Southern Environmental Law Center, Vote Solar, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, and the NC Justice Center, argue the protections are too weak. They say the deal would let data centers walk away from grid-upgrade costs by paying as little as 25 percent of what's owed, and it skips the North Carolina Utilities Commission's own earlier proposal to create a separate customer class that would track and bill large users for their actual costs.

The groups are also pushing for a "clean transition tariff," which would let large companies pay directly for new solar, batteries, and grid upgrades to meet their own power needs, rather than relying on utility-built infrastructure billed to everyone. They argue this could ease pressure on household electric bills while reducing pollution. The utilities commission has not yet ruled on the settlement, so the outcome for North Carolina electricity customers is still undecided.