This coverage is made possible through a partnership between BPR and Grist, a nonprofit environmental media organization.
Duke Energy has joined the federal Ratepayer Protection Pledge — a promise to reduce the impact of data centers on electricity costs. Now, North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson is calling on the utility to commit in a more concrete, legally binding manner, by agreeing to a new tariff through the North Carolina Utilities Commission.
The Trump administration first unveiled this federal pledge in March, after seven major tech companies, like Microsoft and Google, signed on. On Thursday, President Trump held a press conference touting the pledge’s expansion, saying 200 governors, legislators, developers, and power providers, including Duke and the Tennessee Valley Authority, had also signed the pledge.
The Ratepayer Protection Pledge contains language committing tech companies to buy new power, or bring their own, for data center operation. It also asks them to invest in the local workforce, create voluntary energy agreements for new rate structures with local utilities, and contribute to enhancing grid reliability and new power infrastructure.
Duke also recently announced its Customer Protection Plus framework, which is the utility’s own pledge. In this guidance, the utility commits to conduct engineering studies ensuring data center grid reliability and sign long-term agreements with large energy customers ensuring responsible growth.
Attorney General Jeff Jackson told BPR that while the pledge is encouraging, it’s not legally binding until Duke signs an agreement with the state utilities commission to keep costs from being borne by energy customers.
“So now the question is, did Duke do that just to please the federal administration or are they serious about it?” Jackson asked. “Are they willing to join us and actually put it in writing to the Utilities Commission and say we hereby agree to do this and protect the costs, make sure they're not shifted onto families?”
Jackson wants the utility to institute a large load tariff, requiring large energy customers like data centers to cover the costs of their electricity generation and infrastructure. Data centers can use as much energy as a small town – and utilities have been scrambling to accommodate them.
Duke initially sought an 18% rate increase this year, projecting increased electric load growth coming from both population and data center demand on the grid. The state objected, and Duke reached a proposed settlement with the N.C. Utilities Commission that cut the request nearly in half to 9.5%.
Duke spokesperson Jeffrey Brooks told BPR that while Duke’s current share of the load is about 1%, he expects that share to grow by 13% over the next few years. The utility is having conversations about tariffs, he said, but believes the Consumer Protection Pledge proves the utility is invested in keeping rates low.
“Our analysis shows us that large load customers, like data centers, will not only pay for the costs required to serve them, but they will also contribute additional revenue to help keep costs lower for other customers as well, and that's going to remain the case regardless of whether a large load tariff is established or not,” Brooks said.
Across North Carolina and the country, concerns about the environmental and energy impact of data centers have repeatedly crossed party lines. Communities are left uncertain and fearful of the AI-driven rapid rise in hyperscaler construction, and resulting impacts, including visual blight on the landscape, water use, energy rates, and air pollution, even as communities currently hosting hyperscale data centers feel left out of the companies’ decision making.
Data centers have been a hot topic in western North Carolina, with counties, cities and towns instituting over a dozen moratoriums and bans in the region since January 2026. Just this month, Hot Springs became the latest municipality in the region to vote on a one-year moratorium, with Hendersonville likely to follow, adding to more than 30 moratoriums and bans statewide.
