Tech giants want clean energy in N.C. Is Duke finally ready to help?

Tech companies like Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon operating in North Carolina face a challenge securing round-the-clock clean energy due to Duke Energy’s monopoly and its mid-century clean energy timeline. A proposed clean transition tariff would let large customers pay a premium for new zero-carbon energy through Duke, but the utility has long delayed implementation despite broad support. Duke now says it will begin stakeholder negotiations in early 2027, building on its existing Green Source Advantage program, which allows large users to fund renewable projects already in development.

Duke’s announcement follows years of advocacy from corporations and environmental groups, including the Southern Environmental Law Center, which argues the tariff would protect consumers from stranded fossil fuel assets while helping companies meet climate goals. The utility’s previous commitments to explore the tariff lacked concrete action, but this statement marks its most definitive progress yet. Regulators are now expected to play a key role in ensuring the tariff becomes enforceable policy rather than another delayed proposal.

Critics, including Google and the Corporate Energy Buyers Association, highlight the urgency of the tariff as Duke projects surging energy demand from data centers and proposes new fossil fuel plants. Large load tariffs, which require big energy users to commit to power purchases, are gaining traction nationwide as a way to shield households from costs tied to unfulfilled or shifting industrial projects. Advocates emphasize that such tariffs must include provisions for clean energy to avoid shifting risks to ratepayers.

The North Carolina Utilities Commission is reviewing a recent large load tariff agreement between Duke and tech companies, which excluded the clean transition tariff. Duke has pledged to support a separate proceeding for the tariff if stakeholders pursue it, but clean energy advocates insist regulators must mandate a timeline for implementation. A decision on Duke’s rates and the large load proposal is due in mid-November, with potential rulings on the clean tariff to follow.