Duke Energy sticks with its data center spending after vote

Duke Energy isn't blinking. Two days earlier, Democrats swept a wave of state elections partly fought over data centers. CEO Harry Sideris told investors nothing changes. Duke still plans to spend $103 billion over five years, mostly to power data centers across its territory. That's the largest spending plan of any regulated US utility.

The tension is simple. Duke serves the Carolinas and the Midwest, where data centers are moving in fast and driving up demand for electricity. Regular customers worry those costs will land on their own bills. Voters in several Duke states just backed candidates who promised to slow that down. Some candidates wanted data centers to pay their fair share. Sideris sees it differently. He says newly elected leaders share Duke's goal of keeping power reliable and affordable. Whether that holds won't be clear until those officials actually start making policy.

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Will new state governments actually change Duke's plans? Not this year. Most of these projects are already under contract. 7.8 gigawatts of the 15.4-gigawatt pipeline is already under construction. The real test comes when new officials start setting rates and reviewing permits in 2027 and 2028. If they side with angry ratepayers over the data center buildout, Duke's bet gets more complicated. The $103 billion plan would be harder to execute on schedule.