Utilities across the country requested a record $9.2 billion in electric and natural gas rate increases during the second quarter of 2026, according to a new report, with North Carolina accounting for nearly $900 million of those requests as Duke Energy's separate base rate case remains before state regulators.
The report, released Tuesday by the nonprofit PowerLines, found utilities requested $18.6 billion in rate increases during the first half of the year, affecting more than 56 million customer accounts nationwide. Nearly half of the requests came from Southern utilities.
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For North Carolina, the report includes fuel-cost recovery requests filed by Duke Energy Carolinas and Duke Energy Progress in April after Winter Storm Gianna and prolonged cold temperatures increased the company's costs to generate and purchase electricity. Those fuel adjustments have already been approved by the North Carolina Utilities Commission and are reflected in customers' bills.
Duke Energy also has a separate base rate request pending before regulators. That proposal would help pay for investments, including grid upgrades, storm resilience and infrastructure needed to serve the state's rapid growth.
"North Carolina is growing at a remarkable pace," a Duke Energy spokesperson said in a statement to WRAL News. "Families, small businesses, manufacturers, and major employers depend on reliable, affordable electricity every day — and the investments we're making help ensure we can meet that need now and for decades to come."
The utility said it has added about 150,000 North Carolina customers over the past two years, requiring more than 51,000 new distribution poles and 4,100 miles of distribution wire. It also said the cost of equipment such as transformers, voltage regulators and transmission hardware has more than doubled over the past five years.
Duke said data centers were not a major driver of its current rate request and pointed to protections intended to prevent residential customers from subsidizing infrastructure built for large new users.
The company also cited investments to make the electric grid more resilient as severe weather becomes more frequent. Duke said self-healing technology installed since 2022 helped avoid about 1.2 million outages and more than 3 million outage hours last year.
Tremaine Phillips, a former Michigan utility commissioner and senior adviser with PowerLines, said utilities nationwide are facing several cost pressures at once.
"We see three main drivers," Phillips said. "Extreme weather, the aging of our electric grid and fluctuating fuel prices."
He said stronger storms, wildfires, hurricanes and other weather events are increasing the need for utilities to invest in more resilient infrastructure while also replacing equipment that in some cases is decades old.
Phillips said regulators should carefully scrutinize utilities' requests before deciding how much should ultimately be passed on to customers.
"Those are what I call the Supreme Court justices of energy," Phillips said of state utility commissioners. "They're ultimately responsible for scrutinizing these utility proposals and determining what is reasonable and prudent to pass along to consumer utility bills."
The report notes utilities must receive approval from state regulators before charging higher rates. Nationally, regulators approved about 58% of requested costs between 2023 and 2024, although outright denials were uncommon.
Duke said its current base rate case is different from the recently approved fuel adjustment. The company said its last base rate request was filed three years ago and that spreading increases over multiple years can make them appear more frequent while helping avoid larger one-time bill increases.
If regulators approve a partial settlement reached in the case, Duke said a typical residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours per month would see monthly bills increase by $9.39 beginning Jan. 1, 2027, followed by an additional $5.52 per month in 2028.