NC AG framework for a Duke data center rate class (2026)

North Carolina — Attorney General Jeff Jackson FILES a Framework With the Utilities Commission on September 14, 2026 Asking It to Create a SEPARATE RATE CLASS for Duke Energy's Data Center and Large-Load Customers, to Force Public Disclosure of Duke's Template Data Center Contracts and Reporting on Deviations, to Shorten Load Forecasting From Six Months to 90 Days, and to PAUSE New Natural Gas Plant Development Pending Updated Forecasts
North Carolina · N.C. Att'y Gen. framework filed in Duke Energy rate cases before the N.C. Utilities Commission (Sept. 14, 2026)

Status
Proposed / pending
Applies to
Nobody yet. If granted, the obligations would fall on Duke Energy (rate design, contract disclosure, deviation reporting, forecast frequency, gas plant development) and on its data center and large-load customers (the new rate class).
Enforced by
North Carolina Utilities Commission; the North Carolina Department of Justice as petitioner and statutory consumer advocate

North Carolina's Attorney General is trying to make data centers pay their own way on the power grid, and he is doing it through the Utilities Commission rather than the legislature. On September 14, 2026 Jeff Jackson filed a framework in Duke Energy's pending rate cases asking the Commission to do five things: create a SEPARATE RATE CLASS for data centers and other large energy users, so their costs are not spread across residential bills; require Duke to make its TEMPLATE CONTRACTS with data centers public; require regular reporting whenever a deal departs from those templates; require Duke to update its load forecasts every 90 days instead of every six months; and PAUSE development of new natural gas plants until those updated forecasts can be evaluated. He is also pressing Duke to make the federal Ratepayer Protection Pledge — under which large users build, bring or buy the generation they need and pay for the delivery upgrades that serve them — legally binding rather than a voluntary promise. The number driving all of this is Duke's own: the company projects that 80 PERCENT of the new energy demand it must meet will come from data centers and other large loads. THIS IS A REQUEST, NOT A RULE. The Commission has not decided. The framework is entered because the proceeding itself was opened at the AG's request and because the relief sought — a distinct large-load rate class — is the mechanism other states are converging on.

Who is protected: North Carolina residential and small-business electricity customers of Duke Energy — contingently. Nothing is protected unless and until the Utilities Commission grants the relief sought.

Legal detail

Filing by the North Carolina Attorney General, September 14, 2026, in Duke Energy's pending rate cases before the North Carolina Utilities Commission, made within a separate proceeding the Commission initiated after the Attorney General requested one to address the strain new data centers and other large-load users place on the grid. Relief requested: (1) establishment of a new rate class specifically for data centers and large energy users; (2) public disclosure of Duke's template contracts with data centers; (3) regular reporting on any agreements deviating from those templates; (4) an increase in load-forecast frequency from every six months to every 90 days; and (5) a pause on development of new natural gas generation pending evaluation of the updated forecasts. Separately, the Attorney General has called on Duke to formally adopt the federal Ratepayer Protection Pledge — which requires large energy users to 'build, bring, or buy the new generation resources and electricity needed to satisfy their energy demands, and pay for all new power delivery infrastructure upgrades to service their data centers' — as a legally binding commitment via tariff rather than a verbal assurance, and has declined to sign the pending Duke Energy Carolinas rate-case settlement. Supporting figure: Duke projects that 80% of the new energy demand it must serve will come from data centers and other large energy users. Rate-class thresholds, minimum-take provisions and contract terms are NOT specified in the public framework.

Key facts

JurisdictionNorth Carolina
LevelState
CitationN.C. Att'y Gen. framework filed in Duke Energy rate cases before the N.C. Utilities Commission (Sept. 14, 2026)
Private right of actionNo, agency enforcement only
PenaltiesNone — this is an advocacy filing seeking regulatory relief, not an enforcement action.
Topicsdata-center siting and energy · consumer protection · AI disclosure and transparency
Agency pageAttorney General Jeff Jackson Proposes Framework to Ensure Data Centers Pay Their Fair Share for Energy Costs — North Carolina Department of Justice

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