Duke Energy agrees to protect customers from data center costs
Duke Energy reached an agreement with Google, Meta and Microsoft requiring data center developers to pay upfront grid-connection costs and fund power-system upgrades. The arrangement is intended to prevent existing residential and business customers from bearing the costs of new data center construction.
Duke Energy said it has reached an agreement with Google, Meta and Microsoft on special electricity rates and cost protections for large projects such as data centers. Under the arrangement, developers would pay the upfront costs of connecting new facilities to the power grid and help fund grid upgrades that benefit all customers.
The agreement would apply to new construction projects and is designed to prevent residents and other businesses from being left responsible for infrastructure costs associated with major data center developments. The report did not identify a specific data center site, but it focused on Duke Energy’s Charlotte-area service region and the broader impact of data center growth on electricity customers.