NC leaders seek enforceable Duke Energy commitment on data-center costs
Gov. Josh Stein and Attorney General Jeff Jackson say Duke Energy’s federal pledge should be incorporated into North Carolina utility rules and agreements so households do not pay for data-center infrastructure.
RALEIGH — Gov. Josh Stein and Attorney General Jeff Jackson are calling for North Carolina regulators to turn Duke Energy’s voluntary federal data-center pledge into an enforceable commitment protecting residential and small-business customers.
Duke Energy was among the utilities that signed the federal Ratepayer Protection Pledge announced Thursday. The pledge calls for utilities and large electricity users, including data centers, to negotiate arrangements intended to prevent the costs of serving those facilities from being shifted to other customers.
The North Carolina Department of Justice said the pledge asks large energy users to cover the costs of new electricity generation and delivery infrastructure needed to serve their operations. That includes costs associated with infrastructure that is constructed but later goes unused because a proposed data center or other large project does not materialize.
Stein and Jackson said the North Carolina Utilities Commission should require Duke Energy to formalize those commitments in writing.
The officials specifically called for a utility rate structure, often called a large-load tariff, that would assign data-center-related costs to the companies creating the additional demand rather than to households and other existing customers.
“The North Carolina Utilities Commission and Duke Energy must create enforceable policies that protect families and small businesses from paying for the massive energy demands of data centers,” the Department of Justice said in announcing the officials’ position.
The issue comes as data-center development increases demand for electricity generation, transmission lines, substations and other utility infrastructure. State officials are examining how those projects may affect electricity rates and North Carolina’s future energy needs.
The federal pledge itself is voluntary. Stein and Jackson’s request would go further by incorporating its principles into Duke Energy’s North Carolina rates, contracts or regulatory requirements.
Duke Energy has said data-center growth can benefit existing customers by spreading utility costs across a larger customer base. On Thursday, the company announced a customer-protection framework and projected that growth from data centers could produce billions of dollars in customer savings.
The North Carolina Utilities Commission regulates the rates and services of investor-owned utilities in the state. The commission would have to approve any new tariff or rate structure proposed by Duke Energy.
No final North Carolina policy was announced Thursday. The statement from Stein and Jackson represents a request for regulatory action as utilities, technology companies and government officials address the rapid growth of power-intensive data centers.
Editor’s note: This article was drafted with the assistance of artificial intelligence and was reviewed and fact-checked by a member of the NC Political News editorial team before publication.
