North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson told state regulators on October 14 that Duke Energy’s proposed first large load tariff does not require big power users to pay for the new generation they cause. Duke projects that more than 80% of its new demand will come from data centers and other large users. Jackson says that leaves a gap that could harm residential ratepayers.
What the attorney general says is missing
Jackson argued in filings before the North Carolina Utilities Commission, according to the state Department of Justice. He called the proposal a major step forward and said his office “fought for a large load tariff for months.” The gaps, he says, could land on households.
He named three. The proposal does not make the large users pay for the new generation they cause. It does not create a separate rate class, which Jackson wants so the cost of serving data centers can be tracked accurately. And it has no option for large users to build or bring their own clean energy.
On the third point, Jackson says Duke promised a clean energy tariff in 2024 and has not submitted one. Governor Josh Stein, in the same release, said the Utilities Commission has more work to do and must require data centers to pay the full cost of their impact.
Residential customers of Duke Energy in North Carolina are the people the dispute touches. If the cost of new power plants is not assigned to the customers who cause it, Jackson’s concern is that families end up carrying it. The questions for a household are what the tariff leaves unassigned and when the commission decides.
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What Duke and the Public Staff proposed
The tariff would apply to customers that signed a contract on or after June 1, 2026 and use 50 megawatts or more at 80% or more of full power on average, or 150 megawatts or more at any level. A settlement filed October 6 sets out the terms.
Large users would pay in cash, within 60 days of their first contract, for grid equipment built only for them, such as substations. They would pay monthly for at least 75% of the power they contracted for, even if they use less. Contracts would run 10 to 15 years.
Exit rules are strict. Users must give 24 to 48 months of notice, depending on size, before ending a contract, and they face liquidated damages if they do not. During grid strain, large users in their first years of service must cut power use when Duke asks, and they are not compensated for it.
The parties to the settlement are Duke Energy Carolinas, Duke Energy Progress, the Public Staff, Amazon Data Services, Andale LLC, the U.S. Department of Defense and other federal agencies, Google and Microsoft. The Department of Justice release describes Andale as a Meta affiliate. Jackson’s office is not among the signers.
The filing backs up the attorney general on the central point. It says the settlement does not allocate generation costs. Duke must give a large load class cost-of-service analysis in its next base rate case and evaluate allocation methods, and every party keeps its position for that case.
What happens next, and what households already face
The Utilities Commission can approve or reject the settlement in whole or in part. If it changes the terms, the parties must meet within five business days to try to adjust them, and any party can withdraw. The settlement is not binding unless accepted in its entirety.
The Department of Justice release gives no hearing dates, docket number or decision timeline. The commission’s website carries a docket search, a way to submit a statement of position and a schedule of public witness hearings, in person and remote.
The proposal did not come from nowhere. Stein’s Energy Policy Task Force recommended in February that the state develop large load tariffs, options for large users to supply their own capacity, and load flexibility. The tariff Duke filed answers the first of those, and the attorney general’s critique centers on how much of the second and third it delivers.
Household bills are already in play. Jackson refused to sign the proposed settlement in the Duke Energy Carolinas rate case because residential bills there would still rise about 9.5% on average. He also refused to sign Duke Energy Progress’s 15% request, which he says would cost ratepayers nearly $960 million in unnecessary increases over two years.
Stein, in the release, said making the federal Ratepayer Protection Pledge real requires a legally binding large load tariff. He has backed Duke joining the pledge since July. The Utilities Commission will decide whether the tariff that results is the binding one he wants.
The open question for a Duke customer is simple and unanswered: when the commission finishes, will the data centers that drive the new demand also pay for the power plants built to serve them, or will that cost sit in the general rates that households pay?
Will households end up paying for the data centers’ power?
Nothing in the tariff fight sets a date by which a household’s bill changes, and the Duke rate cases already point to increases of 9.5% and 15% before any data-center question is settled. Help with heat and power bills is a separate track that households have to apply for themselves.
The story’s money question is who pays for new generation, and the related job The Senior Property Tax & Home-Cost Relief Kit finishes is help with heat and power bills. It covers heating, cooling and home-repair help and includes an application log and renewal calendar.
Set up bill-help applications with the Senior Property Tax & Home-Cost Relief Kit log →
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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
