Duke Energy Corp Announces DEP Comprehensive Rate-Case Settlement

What Happened

• On August 5, 2026, Duke Energy Progress, LLC (DEP), a Duke Energy subsidiary, filed a Comprehensive Revenue Requirement Settlement with the Public Staff of the North Carolina Utilities Commission (NCUC) and other intervenors related to DEP’s November 20, 2025 rate and Performance Based Regulation (PBR) application. Testimony consistent with the settlement will be filed by the end of the week.
• The settlement resolves all revenue requirement items in the case and sets key regulatory terms that will affect DEP’s future rates and accounting.

Key Details

• Return on equity (ROE) agreed at 9.8% with a capital structure using a 53% equity component.
• Retail rate base for the historic base case of approximately $17.8 billion.
• Approximately $3.4 billion of capital included in the multi-year rate plan (MYRP) along with an annual MYRP refund mechanism.
• Agreement to evaluate a one‑year rate case stay-out under which DEP would not file a base rate case earlier than November 1, 2028, subject to NCUC approval of deferral treatment for certain new generating assets.
• Expected one-time pre-tax accounting charges of roughly $30 million to be recognized in 2026; these are expected to be treated as special items and excluded from adjusted earnings.
• An overview fact sheet on the settlement is attached to the 8-K as Exhibit 99.1.

Why It Matters

• The settlement sets regulatory inputs (ROE and rate base) that materially influence DEP’s allowed revenue and future cash flow, which in turn affect Duke Energy’s regulated earnings potential.
• The MYRP capital authorization and refund mechanism, plus the potential stay-out period, change the timing and recovery of capital investments—important for forecasting capital spending recoveries and regulatory risk.
• The one-time ~$30 million pre-tax charge is modest and expected to be excluded from adjusted earnings, but it will affect reported 2026 pre-tax results.