RALEIGH, N.C. (ACME NEWS) — Duke Energy is asking state regulators to approve a major rate increase that could add more than $30 a month to North Carolina electric bills — and that’s on top of a separate request to pass along hundreds of millions in fuel costs from this winter’s cold snap.
Together, the two requests represent the latest increases for customers who have already seen their bills climb about 22% since 2020.
In late 2025, Duke Energy filed a request with the North Carolina Utilities Commission — the state agency that approves utility rate changes — to raise base electric rates by roughly 15% for customers of both its Duke Energy Progress and Duke Energy Carolinas subsidiaries.
If approved, the typical Duke Energy Progress residential customer would see rates increase about 18.5% over two years. Duke Energy Carolinas customers would see about 15.8%. For a customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours per month, that works out to roughly $34 more on their monthly bill by 2028.
Duke says the increase is needed to pay for grid expansions driven by population growth and new large power users like data centers and manufacturing plants.
“There’s a lot of investment going into our electric system right now,” Duke Energy spokesperson Jeff Brooks said. “Improvements, upgrades and infrastructure to support growth.”
Critics note that Duke reported nearly $5 billion in profit in 2025, up about 12% from the previous year, and question why customers should absorb higher costs while the company posts record earnings.
The commission is expected to decide on the rate request by late 2026, with new rates taking effect in January 2027 if approved.
Separate from the base rate increase, Duke is asking regulators to let it recover more than $800 million in extra fuel costs from this past winter.
In late January and early February 2026, a major cold snap hit North Carolina, driving electricity demand to record levels. Duke’s own power plants could not keep up, forcing the company to buy power from neighboring utilities at much higher prices. Duke is now asking customers to cover those costs through a separate fuel charge.
Fuel costs like this are not new. Every year, Duke files with the commission to recover what it spent on fuel — coal, natural gas, and purchased power — and to refund customers if it over-collected.
Customers were already paying a fuel cost rider tied to 2022 expenses, stemming from a 2024 proceeding in which Duke sought to recover costs it said it had not fully collected. That case sparked a legal battle — the state’s consumer watchdog, the Public Staff, challenged the charges, arguing Duke had reached back further than the 12-month period the law allowed. In February 2026, the North Carolina Court of Appeals agreed, ruling Duke had illegally charged customers roughly $8 million.
However, customers received no refunds. While the case was pending, the General Assembly passed Senate Bill 266, which removed restrictions on how far back Duke could reach to recover fuel costs and allowed the utility to collect those costs at shorter intervals. With the old limits gone, the court ruled a refund would serve no purpose since Duke could simply collect the money again under the new rules. The bill’s sponsors had each received campaign contributions from Duke Energy.
Frustration over rising bills has spilled beyond the regulatory process. An online petition calling for an independent audit of Duke Energy’s billing practices and refunds for customers in North Carolina and South Carolina has gathered more than 81,000 signatures on Change.org.
“Electricity is not a luxury; it is a vital service that we depend on daily,” the petition reads. “When bills rise without reasonable justification or transparency, it impacts our ability to plan and manage our household finances effectively.”
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