Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK) outlines $496M N.C. rate settlement impact
Rhea-AI Filing Summary
Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC filed a Comprehensive Revenue Requirement Settlement with North Carolina stakeholders in its 2025 rate case and Performance Based Regulation application. The agreement provides for a 9.8% return on equity with a 53% equity capital structure and a retail rate base of about $25.7 billion for the historic base case. It also includes roughly $3.8 billion of capital in a multi-year rate plan with an annual refund mechanism and lowers the combined revised revenue requirement increase to $496 million, with net annualized customer rate increases ranging up to 7.4% across the plan.
The settlement framework includes evaluating a delay of Duke Energy Carolinas’ next base rate case filing until no earlier than November 1, 2028, contingent on the North Carolina Utilities Commission granting deferral of costs for certain new generating assets. Intervening parties agreed to pursue good faith settlement discussions in the Duke Energy Progress rate case to seek a substantially similar framework. The stipulations are expected to result in one-time pre-tax accounting charges of about $40 million in 2026, treated as special items and excluded from adjusted earnings.
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Comprehensive Revenue Requirement Settlement regulatory
Performance Based Regulation regulatory
multi-year rate plan regulatory
retail rate base financial
deferral of costs regulatory
special items financial
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FAQ
What did Duke Energy (DUK) disclose about its 2025 North Carolina rate case?
What return on equity is included in Duke Energy (DUK) Carolinas’ Comprehensive Settlement?
How does the settlement affect Duke Energy (DUK) customers’ rates in North Carolina?
What rate base and MYRP capital did Duke Energy (DUK) outline in the settlement?
What one-time charges will Duke Energy (DUK) record from the Comprehensive Settlement?
How could the settlement change Duke Energy (DUK) Carolinas’ future rate case timing?
How does the Duke Energy (DUK) Carolinas settlement relate to the Duke Energy Progress rate case?
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM
CURRENT REPORT
Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported):
| Commission file number | Registrant, State of Incorporation
or Organization, Address of Principal Executive Offices and Telephone Number |
IRS Employer Identification No. |
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Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:
SECURITIES REGISTERED PURSUANT TO SECTION 12(b) OF THE ACT:
| Registrant | Title of each class | Trading Symbol(s) | Name
of each exchange on which registered |
| Duke Energy | |||
| Duke Energy | |||
| Duke Energy | each representing a 1/1,000th interest in a share of 5.75% Series A Cumulative Redeemable Perpetual Preferred Stock, par value $0.001 per share | ||
| Duke Energy | |||
| Duke Energy | |||
| Duke Energy |
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (§230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (§240.12b-2 of this chapter).
Emerging growth company
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ¨
Item 7.01. Regulation FD Disclosure.
On July 17, 2026, Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC (“DEC”) filed a Comprehensive Revenue Requirement Settlement (the “Comprehensive Settlement” and collectively with all other stipulations, “the Stipulations”) with the Public Staff – North Carolina Utilities Commission (the “Public Staff”) and other intervenors (together, “Intervening Parties”) in connection with DEC's application for adjustment of rates and charges and for Performance Based Regulation ("PBR") filed with the North Carolina Utilities Commission ("NCUC") on November 20, 2025. Testimony consistent with the Comprehensive Settlement will be filed next week. The Comprehensive Settlement resolves all remaining revenue requirement items in the case including, among other things, (i) a return on equity of 9.8% based on a 53% equity component in the capital structure, (ii) a retail rate base of approximately $25.7 billion for the historic base case, (iii) approximately $3.8 billion of capital in the multi-year rate plan (“MYRP”) along with an annual MYRP refund mechanism, and (iv) agreement to evaluate the potential to delay its next base rate case filing until no earlier than November 1, 2028, so long as the NCUC grants deferral of costs of certain new generating assets. Additionally, the Intervening Parties agreed to pursue good faith settlement discussions in the ongoing Duke Energy Progress (“DEP”) rate case proceeding (Docket No. E-2, Sub 1380) to reach a substantially similar settlement framework for the DEP proceeding.
The Stipulations are expected to result in one-time pre-tax accounting charges of approximately $40 million, to be recognized by DEC in 2026. These charges are expected to be treated as special items and excluded from adjusted earnings.
An overview providing additional detail on the Comprehensive Settlement is attached to this Form 8-K as Exhibit 99.1. The information in Exhibit 99.1 is being furnished pursuant to this Item 7.01 and shall not be deemed “filed” for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or otherwise subject to the liabilities of that section.
Item 9.01. Financial Statements and Exhibits.
(d) Exhibits.
| 99.1 | Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC Fact Sheet Regarding 2026 Comprehensive Settlement. |
| 104 | Cover Page Interactive Data File (the cover page XBRL tags are embedded in the Inline XBRL document). |
SIGNATURE
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
| DUKE ENERGY CORPORATION | ||
| Date: July 17, 2026 | By: | /s/ David S. Maltz |
| Name: | David S. Maltz | |
| Title: | Vice President, Corporate Legal Support, Chief Governance Officer and Corporate Secretary | |
| DUKE ENERGY CAROLINAS, LLC | ||
| Date: July 17, 2026 | By: | /s/ David S. Maltz |
| Name: | David S. Maltz | |
| Title: | Vice President, Chief Governance Officer, Corporate Secretary and Mergers and Acquisitions | |
Exhibit 99.1
Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC
Updates Regarding the 2025 Rate Case Filings in North Carolina
(Docket E-7 Sub 1329)
Background:
| · | On November 20, 2025, Duke Energy Carolinas (“DEC” or “the Company”) filed a rate case with the North Carolina Utilities Commission (“NCUC”) seeking approval for increases in retail revenues. The filing included requests for Performance Based Regulation (“PBR”) mechanisms, featuring a 2-year Multi-Year Rate Plan (“MYRP”) as well as residential decoupling, performance incentive mechanisms (“PIMs”), and an earnings sharing mechanism (“ESM”). |
| ◦ | The initial filing requested an approximately 15.0% overall increase in retail revenues over the two-year period, or approximately $1,002 million. | |
| ◦ | The rate case filing requested an overall rate of return of 7.92% based upon a return on equity (“ROE”) of 10.95% with a 53% equity component in the capital structure1, as compared to the ROE approved in the last rate case of 10.1% with a 53% equity component in the capital structure. | |
| ◦ | The historic base case in the initial filing is based on North Carolina retail rate base of approximately $26.5 billion as of December 31, 2024, adjusted for known and measurable changes projected through March 31, 2026. | |
| ◦ | The MYRP includes impacts of approximately $4.4 billion (NC retail allocation) of capital projects that are projected to go in service over the 2-year MYRP period. |
| · | On June 19, 2026, the Company filed an updated revenue requirement request as part of the Company’s rebuttal testimony, which reduced the requested increase to approximately $622 million over the two-year period, which is an approximate 9.3% overall increase in retail revenues. |
| o | As part of the revised revenue requirement request, the Company has requested a 10.48% ROE with a 53% equity component in the capital structure, and made certain other adjustments to reduce the requested increase. |
| · | On July 2, 2026, DEC and the Public Staff - North Carolina Utilities Commission (“Public Staff”) filed an Agreement and Stipulation of Partial Settlement (the “Partial Stipulation”) with the NCUC resolving certain issues in the case. |
| o | The Partial Stipulation resolves a variety of accounting and plant items and adjustments in the case, including: payroll and benefits, bad debt expense, coal ash compliance costs amortization period, continuation of the transmission cost allocation adjustment, and a compromised resolution on specific distribution, solar, microgrid, and other plant adjustments and smaller adjustments proposed in the case. | |
| o | For the proposed MYRP2 capital program, the Partial Stipulation resolves discrete project-level items, including limiting the Distribution Substation and Line program reduction to the equipment retrofit program and preserving the Company's ongoing O&M estimate. | |
| o | While the Partial Stipulation does not resolve the MYRP2 proposal or the broader MYRP2 capital disputes, it does resolve certain discrete project-level adjustments to the proposed MYRP capital projects. |
1 Overall rate of return includes the provisions of the CCR settlement which includes a 150 basis point reduction in the ROE with a 52% equity component for the capital structure allowed for coal ash deferrals during the amortization period.
| · | On July 6, 2026, DEC and the Public Staff filed an Agreement and Stipulation of Settlement on Storm Costs (the “Storm Cost Stipulation”) with the NCUC resolving certain issues related to storm costs including resolving the treatment of Hurricane Helene and Winter Storm Fern costs and agreeing to withdraw the request for storm reserve funding. |
| · | On July 17 , 2026, DEC and the Public Staff, as well as other intervening parties (together, the “Intervening Parties”), filed a Comprehensive Revenue Requirement Settlement (“Comprehensive Settlement”) with the NCUC resolving all remaining revenue requirement issues in the case (collectively with all other Stipulations, “the Stipulations”). |
Major Components of the Comprehensive Settlement
| · | The Comprehensive Settlement resolves all remaining revenue requirement issues between the Company and the Intervening Parties in the case, including agreement on 9.8% ROE and 53% equity component in the capital structure and various accounting and plant items. |
| · | The historic base case is based on North Carolina retail rate base of approximately $25.7 billion |
| · | The MYRP will include approximately $3.8 billion of capital (NC retail allocation) along with an annual MYRP refund mechanism (based upon both the number of projects and amount of capital placed in service in a rate year compared to what was approved for that rate year). |
| · | The Comprehensive Settlement resolves all remaining issues related to the revenue requirement in the case as well as mechanics of the decoupling mechanism and ESM |
| · | The parties agree to support a separate proceeding to evaluate a large load tariff, with the intention to complete that proceeding prior to new rates going into effect |
| · | DEC agrees to a $10 million shareholder contribution to support bill assistance through the Share the Light Fund and health and safety repairs through the Helping Home Fund |
| · | The Company will evaluate the potential to delay its next base rate case filing until no earlier than November 1, 2028. The Company has indicated that it can agree to this delay if permitted to defer costs directly associated with the Commission-approved Person County CC1 and Marshall CTs, from the time each plant is placed in service until such costs can be reflected in new base rates with a full Weighted Average Cost of Capital (“WACC”) during the deferral period. |
| · | The Stipulations result in a revised revenue requirement of $496 million over the two-year period, an average annual rate increase of 3.7% over two years. |
Additional Information:
| · | The Stipulations are subject to the review and approval of the NCUC. |
| · | An evidentiary hearing to review the Stipulations and remaining issues in the case commenced on July 7, 2026 and is in progress. |
| · | Subject to NCUC approval, DEC has requested total Year 1 rates to be in effect no later than January 1, 2027. |
| · | The Stipulations are expected to result in one-time pre-tax accounting charges of approximately $40 million, to be recognized by DEC in 2026. These charges are expected to be treated as special items and excluded from adjusted earnings. |
| · | The Intervening Parties also agreed to pursue good faith settlement discussions in the ongoing Duke Energy Progress rate case proceeding (Docket No. E-2, Sub 1380) to reach a substantially similar settlement framework for the DEP proceeding. |
Reconciliation of Company Request to Reflect the Stipulations
| ($ in millions) | Historic Base Case | Year 1 - MYRP | Year 1 Total | Year 2 – MYRP | Combined Total | |||||||||||||||
| Original requested revenue requirement increase | $ | 595 | $ | 132 | $ | 727 | $ | 275 | $ | 1,002 | ||||||||||
| Post-filing, pre-Stipulation adjustments | (334 | ) | (17 | ) | (351 | ) | (29 | ) | (380 | ) | ||||||||||
| Adjustments agreed to in partial stipulation | (61 | ) | (1 | ) | (62 | ) | (4 | ) | (66 | ) | ||||||||||
| Revised Company requested revenue requirement increase with partial stipulation | $ | 201 | $ | 114 | $ | 315 | $ | 241 | $ | 556 | ||||||||||
| ROE (10.48% to 9.8%) | (122 | ) | (4 | ) | (126 | ) | (7 | ) | (133 | ) | ||||||||||
| MYRP Adjustments | -- | (14 | ) | (14 | ) | (24 | ) | (38 | ) | |||||||||||
| Other stipulated adjustments | 111 | -- | 111 | -- | 111 | |||||||||||||||
| Revised revenue requirement increase after Comprehensive Settlement | $ | 190 | $ | 96 | $ | 286 | $ | 210 | $ | 496 | ||||||||||
| Net annualized customer rate increase | 2.9 | % | 1.4 | % | 4.3 | % | 3.1 | % | 7.4 | % | ||||||||||
Note: Totals may not add due to rounding
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This document includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements are based on management’s beliefs and assumptions. These forward-looking statements are identified by terms and phrases such as "anticipate," "believe," "intend," "estimate," "expect," "continue," "should," "could," "may," "plan," "project," "predict," "will," "potential," "forecast," "target," "outlook," "guidance," and similar expressions. Various factors may cause actual results to be materially different than the suggested outcomes within forward-looking statements; accordingly, there is no assurance that such results will be realized. These risks and uncertainties are identified and discussed in Duke Energy’s Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025, and subsequent quarterly reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and available at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the events described in the forward-looking statements might not occur or might occur to a different extent or at a different time than Duke Energy has described. Duke Energy expressly disclaims an obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.