By Emma Haidar | Updated on Oct 07, 2026 at 10:52 PM
Duke Energy Corp. reached a deal with several of the world’s largest tech companies that it said would protect customers in North Carolina from some data center costs.
The tariff for large load customers including data centers means they would have to foot the bill for infrastructure needs such as substations and transmission lines. They would also have to pay at least 75% of their projected power needs each month, regardless of how much is actually used. The settlement with North Carolina Public Staff, a state consumer agency, was first reported by The News & Observer .
The utility said Amazon.com Inc., Meta Platforms Inc., Microsoft Corp., Google LLC, and the US Defense Department had accepted the proposed tariff. The plan will need to be officially approved by the North Carolina Utilities Commission.
“It’s simple – data centers will pay upfront for all costs to connect to the grid,” Kendal Bowman, Duke Energy’s North Carolina president, said in a statement .
Similar tariff proposals have gained traction across the country as utilities and state regulators grapple with how to insulate ratepayers from price spikes associated with data center power demand.