Duke Energy to issue $10B in equity to capture gas generation growth opportunity

Duke Energy plans to raise $10 billion in stock between 2027 and 2030 to help pay for a $103 billion, five-year spending plan built around booming demand from data centers. The utility, which serves customers across six states, says it will build 15 gigawatts of new power generation by 2031, mostly new gas plants paired with battery storage, to meet that demand. No new nuclear plants are planned for now, though Duke will upgrade its existing nuclear fleet.

For homeowners in Duke's service area, the immediate concern is what this means for electric bills. The company has already asked North Carolina regulators for roughly $1.7 billion in rate increases over 2027 and 2028, and has settled for about $1.1 billion of that. Duke says it's adopting a "customer protection plus" policy meant to make sure large energy users, like data centers, cover the cost of serving them rather than shifting those costs onto regular ratepayers. An advocacy group, NC Warn, disputes the need for this spending, arguing that Duke has overstated its growth projections even as household electricity use has actually declined.

Duke also faces a separate dispute in Indiana, where the state's ratepayer advocate has accused the company of overcharging customers by more than $89 million under a rate hike approved last year. If you get power from Duke Energy, these rate cases are worth watching, since the outcomes will shape what you pay on future bills.